NaruHina: Petals
by iFREAK101
Summary: A burn, blood thirsty thieves, old crushes, new sparks, a disease, a fallen friend returned, life threatening situations, and a boy with a demonic past. Hinata has always chased Naruto. Naruto has chased Sakura who, in return, chases Sauske. How will this cycle break? and what friendships will be lost in the process? NaruHina (main) a little NejiTen
1. Chapter 1

**NaruHin****a: Petals**

**Ps this story takes place in Shippuden.**

**Chpt 1: **

Hinata was sitting on a bench in the park reading a book. She had just finished a training session with Kiba and Shino. They had helped her work on a new Jutsu for weeks and it was finally perfected, her very own knock out move. Kiba and Shino were of course proud but she couldn't feel the same way... Yes it was true she had gotten stronger but...she just never could match the standers she set for herself. Maybe she was just pushing herself to hard but she couldn't help but wonder if she would please herself as much as she pleased her teammates...She pushed any negative thoughts from her head and relaxed, kicking her legs up on the bench until she was laying on her back. She closed her eyes and was nearly asleep when she heard someone calling her. She unwillingly sat up, without thinking she glared at the voice. She quickly corrected and cursed at herself fore acting so rude. She softened her expression and watched as a waving TenTen ran over to her. "Hinata, we have been summoned to the Hokage's." Hinata looked down, a little disappointed. She had wanted to get to reading her new book but that dream was shattered.

"Uhh ok thank you." Hinata followed TenTen to the Hokage's office. They knocked and heard someone yell,

"Enter" and walked in. TenTen approached Tsunade.

"Got her!" she said proudly. Tsunade looked Hinata over and gave a smirk.

"Excellent! She is just the type of person you need for a mission like this!" Hinata blushed at the complement and found herself picking up her old habit of fumbling with her fingers.

"May I ask, Tsunade-sama, what is our mission?" Tsunade leaved back in her chair and waved Hinata off.

"I'm not going to explain twice, just wait for the others to get here." Hinata blushed embarrassed and stayed quiet. They all waited in awkward silence for about five minutes until a knock at the door made them jump.

"Enter" In walked Ino followed by Sakura.

"Sakura was able to come." said Ino with a glare. "But Shikamru and Chouji are away on special training with their dads."

"Hmm... well I guess we just have two more then." They waited there for for what seemed like hours until someone finally knocked.

"Enter!" In walked Neji. "Ah Neji, did you find him?"

"Unfortunately….." Neji moved from the doorway and Naruto ran in, bounding straight for the desk and excitedly yelled at Tsunade.

"Granny-Tsunade I finally get to go on a mission? Really?" Naruto's face beamed with nothing except pure joy.

"Will you just be quiet? I will explain the details of this mission if you would just shut up!" Naruto slouched back and pouted. Hinata couldn't help but smile. "Alright now listen carefully. You all are going on an A ranked mission. Your assignment is an escort mission. You must help this person." Tsunade showed them a picture of a wiry looking boy who seemed to be about the same age as them. "He is taking a prize to an island near the Land of Clouds." Naruto cocked his head.

"A prize? For what?"

"Every year there is a grand tournament where Shinobi from all over the Land of Clouds can test their skills against each other. He is in charge taking the grand prize all the way from the Village of Smiths, which is located in the center of the Land of Earth. He came here with the payment for the prize, from the Land of Waves and we must take him to the Village of Smiths and then to the island."

"Yeah ok but it's just an escort mission, is it really an A rank." Tsunade nodded

"It is. He is taking a great sum of money to the land of Smiths to pay for the priceless prize. On top of that, paying for the prize will hopefully bring peace between the Land of Clouds and the Land of Waves. Just the importance of that, is worthy of a B rank. Not to mention how many thieves who would die to get a hold of the prize and payment. It actually should be an S rank but as luck would have it, most of the Anbu I wanted is away on other missions. Now does everyone understand?" They all stood up straight.

"Yes!"

"Alright then Neji being a Jonin will be team captain."

"Yes."

"You are to meet him at the gate in two hours. Go pack and get ready, this is going to be a long trip."

"Alright" The all left the office. Hinata was walking down the street going over the mission details in her head, trying to find where her skills were most needed. She found herself walking through a flower garden. Most the plants there were exotic ones from all over the world. She came across a pale purple flower she looked at the marker and it said, "Purple Nightshade." She gently touched some of it petals feeling it's smooth skin on her fingertips. It was one of her favorites but something seemed to attracted her eyes away from them. She walked over and looked down on a bright orange flower called a "Lilium" Her eyes just couldn't look away from the bold, orange flower. The powerful fragrance of the flower enticed Hinata to bend down and examine it more. The more she looked at it the more she loved it and the brighter its colors seemed to get. She was so enchanted by it' boldness she didn't even notice that some one was looking over her shoulder.

"Hmmmm I kinda like it." Hinata jumped and whirled around so fast that she lost her balance and started to fall backwards until someone grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

"Uh T-Thank you so much." Hinata looked up and blushed as she looked into the ocean blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto. His face only inches away. Her faced turned a bright red. **'Naruto-kun...so close...What do I do?'** She quickly scrambled away from him and took a low bow. "My apologizes! I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings!" She lost the control of her voice and was nearly yelling at him. She felt her face get even hotter from the blunder. Naruto just stared at her a little confused. Naruto quickly looked around and sure enough some passersby were starring. He quickly put on an awkward grin and waved, trying to show that everything was fine. He quickly grabbed Hinata by the shoulders and brought her back up.

"You don't need to act like that Hinata, we're friends. Just a simple thank you is good for me!" She stared at him, still with a tint of red to her cheeks. After a few seconds she broke into a smiled.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." He smiled back and put his hand behind his head.

"He-he-he No problem Hinata." Naruto bent down to examine at the flower Hinata was looking at earlier. "Not a bad color for a flower." Hinata looked at the flower as well. She held back a giggle.

"No, not bad at all." Naruto looked at Hinata and then looked back at the flower. He bent down and picked up one of the Liliums that had fallen on the ground but was still perfect looking. He stood up and moved close to Hinata. He put some of her hair behind her left ear and placed the flower in her hair. He stood back to get a good look. It seemed to make the shy girl's features pop with amazing beauty. He was actually taken aback for a second

"I think it your color." Her face turned red and was near to fainting. She had to close her eyes and forced herself to stay conscious. She smiled.

"T-Thank you Naruto-kun." He gave a huge grin back.

"Well I better get going, I still need to prep for the mission." He walked right past her. She walked him go, he kept walking but abruptly stopped and looked down at the ground. He scooped something up and looked at it. Hinata could see it was a flower from the Purple Nightshade he looked at it smiled and pocketed it. Hinata didn't know why but she couldn't help but blush. She stood there looking in the direction that Naruto had taken until she remembered that she had to leave for the mission and she hurried to the Hyuga Mansion to get ready.

**XXXXXX**

Hinata went running to get to the village gates in time. She did not want to make everyone else mad. "Damn….Please don't be late." She thought, finally making it to the gates. As she got closer she saw that everyone was there except Naruto. "I'm so s-sorry I'm late, where is Naruto-kun?" Sakura sighed,

"Nobody knows…." The boy that was obviously in charge of transporting the prize stepped forward.

"Well he better get here soon I have an important deadline to keep. If he doesn't come in the next five minutes I am leaving with or without you Shinobi." They waited in frustration for Naruto to arrive. After about ten minutes have passed, the boy walked over and mounted a old but sturdy looking wagon that was being pulled by two oxen. "Alright that is long enough." He made an odd "Heeha" sound and the ox started to move as Hinata turned her back on the village in disappointment.

"Naruto-kun..." After a few step she stopped. Did she just hear something?...She heard it again.

"W-Wait a minute, listen." They all strained their ears as the sound, started as a tiny hum but slowly got louder and louder. They realized it was a battle cry of a yell which, growing even louder, sounded as if it was coming from above. Downward hurtled a orange blob of color. It hit the ground in front of all of them with the small "Click" of shoes. And there, in the cloud of dust, stood a smiling Naruto.

"Hey guys, ready to go?" Neji glared daggers at him.

"Do you know what time It is? You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago and now we are behind schedule." Naruto unknowingly scratched the back of his head and grinned.

"Well I got hungry so grabbed a quick bite of ramen." Everyone looked furious expect for Hinata who only smiled softly. The boy turn the oxen in the direction leading out of the village.

"Ok all of you get in." Naruto starred at the boy and his cart.

"What?" The boy sighed.

"Get in the wagon, are you coming or not?" Naruto cocked his head.

"Why are we going to ride in there?"

"Because people walking beside an empty wagon will look a little suspicious wouldn't it?" Naruto's brow furrowed.

"Well yeah I guess but where is the payment?"

"Under the straw and boards, now are you going to get in or not?" They all started to get in the wagon one by one. Naruto jumped in and just so happen to land rather close to Hinata.

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked, giving her a small wink. Her cheeks responded with a nice blush.

"Oh uhhh N-no not at all Naruto-kun." He gave her a thankful smile which only Naruto could ever show her. The kind that made her become completely taken over by a warm feeling that was inside her. Once everyone was in the wagon, the boy made the noise again and the oxen began their slow trod.

"Okay we're off."

**End.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chap 2:**

Naruto was starting to get a headache from being bumped around in the old wagon. Every time the wagon jumped he ended up ricocheting into Neji who would just give him a death glare which made him scoot back into the wagon's side. The drove for about an hour in awkward silence, Naruto would much rather be running, it would be a hell of a lot fast then the damn oxen... After about another hour of silence the driver finally started to speak up.

"Ok listen up because I'm only going to saw this once. My name is Katashi, I have very strict schedule and you all are going to follow it got it? If we are even a second late for this tournament then it is going to be **_my_** head on a silver platter." Naruto's brow furrowed.

"Any other orders for us sir?"

"Naruto!" yelled Sakura punching him in the arm, "Don't be rude, don't forget he **hired** us." Naruto just crossed his arms in a childlike manner. Katashi smirked

"Actually I do have one order for you..." Naruto looked at him at him uneasily. "I know it will be hard for a brat like you but try not to fuck up!"

"AHHHHH" Naruto moved for the boy flailing and kick while Sakura held him back by his collar. "LET ME AT HIM, LET ME AT HIM! I WILL SHOW HIM A BRAT!" Katashi just a triumphant

"Hmpt!" before returning his attention to the road. Sakrua just sat him down right next to Hinata who had just been watching Naruto and giggling a bit. As the road got even more ruff everyone had trouble actually staying in the cart. Naruto flew high and hit his head on the side so hard that this time he started to see spots and colors.

"Can I at least ask how much longer are we going to drive on this road? "

"Another mile or two." Said Katashi without even looking back. "Trust me this is still pretty easy stuff, just waith till we are in the Land of Earth."

"Great…" he mumbled. As they road there was one very fierce bump, making everyone, including Neji and Katashi, jump two feet in the air. Naruto hit the floor hard and was surprised to feel something land in his lap. He looked up and there sat horrified Hinata still trying to cope with what had happened. She just stared at him, trying to read his reaction. He smiled at her with his famous crooked smile. "Hey!" He tried to show her it was no big deal but he watched as her face slowly turned a bright pink and then even darker shades of red. "Hey Hinata you ok? Do you feel sick?" Naruto put the back of his hand gently on her check and started stroking her face trying to see if she had a fever. Hinata took a quivering breath and collapsed. "Ah Hinata! What the-" Sakura looked up to where Hinata laid motionless on Naruto's lap.

"Naruto baka, what the hell is wrong with her? What did you do?"

"Nothing! S-she just fell into my lap, turn a dark red and fainted!"

"Well don't just hold her like that, set her down!"

"Ok, ok…" Naruto sat Hinata down still trying to get a handle on what had happen.

**XXXXXXXX**

Hinata woke up light headed trying to remember anything. _I...I was with Naruto...on his lap..._ She had no clue where she was or why her bed was so uncomfortable and bumpy but she didn't like it. She opened her eyes slightly and saw the golden straw then contorted her body so she was able to look at the stars and moon. She yawned in stretch in complete satisfaction. She didn't know what she was laying on and frankly didn't care, she was comfortable and so curled up in to it. It smelled comforting and... a little like ramen..._Wait, ramen?_ She lifted her head and turned to see what exactly she was using as a pillow. _Orange?...oh God..._

"He-he-he so your finally awake." She was wide awake now and opened her eyes completely to find her arms wrapped around Naruto's stomach. She was curled up and snuggled into chest and felt his arm tenderly around her. She sat up straight completely flustered and blushing like crazy. She tried to get out some form of an apology but her stutter was so bad all that cam out was a

"S-s-s-s-sso-sor s-s-s-" which just simply embarrassed her more. She became a little dizzy was on the brim of fainting but Naruto grabed her shoulders and kept her steady.

"Whoa there easy! Don't worry about it! Just pretend nothing happened ok?" She looked into his ocean blue eyes and found herself nodding. "Ok" he said through a crocked smile. She smiled back and finally took a real look at her surroundings, everyone was asleep except for Naruto and herself. There was only three blankets among everyone. Neji and TenTen were sharing theirs evenly, Sakura and Ino stretching theirs out as far as it could possible go, almost as if they had fought for it before sleeping,leaving her and Naruto to share the last one. Someone had tucked it around her in a cocoon of warmth and softness. She looked at Naruto who had only a slight amount of covering thanks to her own selfishness. A gust of icy cold wind hit her face and she peered up at the nearly full moon. She could tell it was about one am.

"Uh Naruto-kun…." she spoke gently, not wanting to wake everyone else up. "It is very late and we are still traveling tomorrow, shouldn't you get some rest?" Naruto smiled and unknowingly put his hand behind his head.

"He-he Yeah I know I... just wasn't that comfortable I guess." Hinata finally looked at the boy and gasped. He was shaking tremendously lips bluish, and his breaths were coming out short and forced.

"Naruto-kun your freezing, please take the blanket!" She removed the blanket from being wrapped around her and held it out for Naruto. He pushed it back to her.

"No Hinata, I gave it to you. You keep it. I'm fine really I am." Just as he spoke an extra cold wind hit them and his teeth started chattering uncontrollably. She scooted close to him and tenderly draped it on him.

"Please Naruto-kun I'm begging you take it." He gave a look of protest and opened his mouth to argue but after he saw the pleading in her eyes he ended it. The thick blanket stopped is chattering teeth but without it, Hinata's started. She tried to hide but she got fool Naruto. He noticed it right away and refused to let her be uncomfortable so he quickly put it around his own shoulders and then extended his arm to Hinata.

"Here, we can easily share it." Hinata blushed wildly but she was far to cold to faint, so she excepted his invitation. She moved closer to him so that his hand barely touched her shoulder but he grabbed her by the waist and moved her even closer to him. He pressed his body up against her so much her so that she was pressed up against his body that she was scared he could actually feel the blush on her skin.

"T-Thank y-you so much Naruto-kun." He smiled at her.

"No problem!" They stayed up for awhile doing nothing but talking. They quietly talked about their friends and past missions. They talked about regrets and dreams, the chunin exams and before they knew it the conversation had turned to Sasuke Uchiha. "I-I just don't know anymore Hinata... I mean... I know of all the horrible things he has done but...I just want to bring him back and I know I am the only one who has a chance but…..Everyone keeps telling me to give up on him and…I won't lie I actually kind of want to... I want to so bad but... If I do that then I will just be turning my back on everything I've worked for... Everyone wants me to just stop trying and I'm scared i might actually listen to them-" Hinata sat up straight, letting the blanket fall of her. She looked in his eyes with a look of shock and determination.

"Never speak like that Naruto-kun!….I-I know you can bring him back. You can't listen to them, as long as you don't give up and keep fighting to help him then I know you can succeed at anything you set your mind to. As long as you keep getting back up, whenever you've been knocked down. People may beg you to stay down but if you want to stand back up, then keep trying. You had the power to save me, I know you have the power to save him as well….. I believe in you Naruto-kun. I always have and always will." He looked at her, mouth open. This couldn't be the same girl he went to the academy with. The weird on that always stood behind a tree. Hinata had to admit she was just as surprised as he was and was soon back to blushing again and twiddling her finders. Naruto join in with his own blush. He scratched the back of his head with a hint of embarrassment.

"Thanks Hinata-chan that helped a lot. Here just came back to the blanket, it is still freezing outside." Hinata returned to her original spot and pressed herself back against Naruto. He wrapped the blanket around both of their shoulders and then wrapped it in front of them so they were completely surrounded by the blanket. They talked a little more until they finally fell asleep leaning on each other.

**XXXXX**

Hinata started to stir awake. She was uncomfortably hot and claustrophobic but... that wasn't way she woke up... She had the odd feeling that someone was watching her. She opened her eyes slightly and was nearly blinded by the sun and shut them tightly. She carefully open them again and looked straight into the blue and green eyes of Sakura and Ino. She was so surprised and scared that she couldn't stop the squeak that came out of her mouth. Sakura, Ino, and even TenTen broke out in a storm of giggles. Hinata open her eyes all the way this time and looked all around to see what exactly was so funny. Until, of course, she realized that she was still leaning on a sleeping Naruto's shoulder. They were both wrapped in the thick blanket in a cuddling opposition Combined with the fact she was so close to Naruto with the sun beating down on them, it became far to hot. She quickly kicked of the blanket and scooted a good distance away from the snoring boy. She stretched her arms above her head and looked all around, taking in all of the outside. She noticed that they were surrounded by walls trees and moss. The only indication that they weren't completely lost was the small dirt path on which they were riding. Sensing people, again watching her she looked over at the still smiling girls.

"W-What? Is something wrong?" she said innocently and they all broke out in laughter again. Sakrua moved even closer to her and asked in a loud whisper

"So what happened between you two last night?" Hinata jumped at the question and started waving her her hands in front of her.

"W-W-what n-nothing!" Ino moved also moved close to the blushing heiress.

"Oh yeah? Well it sure didn't look like nothing" she said with a side ways smirk to Sakura. "huddled up together." Hinata was starting to get a huge blush that took over her entire face.

"W-w-we were just sharing the b-blanket." Katashi looked back at the girls and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"And talking all night!" TenTen, Ino, and Sakura looked at him, mouth dropped, back and Hinata and bust into a whole new set of laughter. "I swear this girls and the blonde one were up for so long talking about heaven knows what, I goddamn couldn't concentrate. I accidentally drove us in a circle seven times!" he turn back to the rode as the girls laughed, which made Hinata blush even more. Naruto moaned and finally woke up.

"What the hell is with the noise?" They all looked at him, Hinata, and back to him and laughed once again. He looked at Hinata in confused who shrugged at him and tried to silence that girls never ending giggles. Naruto just scratched his head and moved over to sit next to Neji, who was laying back ignoring the girls entirely. "Hey Neji." Hey moved in and whispered to the Hyuga. "Do you know what is up with them?" gesturing to the girls. Neji simply looked over at the cluster of females and shrugged.

"Why are you asking me? I don't really care. Ask Hinata-sama later, she seem to be the center of their attention. " Naruto looked at them and sure enough they were all gather around Hinata, gossiping like school girls.

"Hmm yea looks like it." All of a sudden the cart just stopped on the side of the rode and Katashi stood up and turned to face the group.

"Ok listen up!" Everyone looked on the roadside where there was a huge clearing surrounded beautiful trees and flowers. "We are stopping here for now!" Naruto stood in protest.

"What do you mean stop here we can keep going!" Katashi just jumped out.

"Maybe you can but in case you have forgotten I didn't get the pleasure of sleep last night! I drove all through the night and I need my rest to. We will stay just enough to stretch our legs and for me to get a good sleep then we will keep moving." Even though he didn't want to stop, Naruto was the first one to jump out and start to stretch.

"Ok I admit it does feel good to walk around again." Neji got out next and walked around scoping the land for any plants that were safe to eat. He found a few trees with food that was safe and he brought some of what he picked to the rest of them. Sakura and Ino went of and fought about something. TenTen went to go help Neji. While Hinata went and look around at all the plant life growing in the woods and she came across something that she couldn't believe, a single Lilium. Bright orange fading into an even brighter yellow as it reached the middle. She smiled and she bent down to examine it. Unfortunately it was limp its stem was broken and it the flower was just hanging the have way. She picked it from the rest of its stem. She looked at it a admired its bold look and color. She tucked her hair behind her left ear and placed the flower behind it. She smiled and stated to walk back to were the group was. All of a sudden she felt a prickling pain in her shoulder she reached for it and found out she had two needles. She removed them and realized it was dripping with a strange purple liquid.

"N-No…" She got dizzy and fell down hard on the ground. Her hazily say five dark forms standing over her. They started talking but she couldn't understand what they were saying but she did hear one thing.

"Do you really think they will give us the payment for _her?"_ She felt someone grab her by the ankles and drag her away from the clearing.

"N-Naruto-kun….." She fell unconscious.

"Naruto was walking through the woods searching for any sign of Hinata. He had gotten bored at the camp sight and wished to talk with someone. It was impossible to even go near Sakura or Ino without them starting to giggle. Neji wasn't exactly the first person he wanted to talk to so he deiced to find Hinata. He hadn't seen her in a while so he started to worry.

"Hinata-chan! You out here?" He kept searching until something caught his eye, something orange. He walked near it and he found a note on a tree. He removed the Kunai holding it there and read it.

"_**WE HAVE THE BLACK HAIRED GIRL HOSTAGE. IF YOU EVER WANT TO SEE THAT BRAT ALIVE AGAIN THEN BRING US THE PAYMENT FOR THE PRIZE."**_

Just below the note there was an arrow caved into the tree pointing west. While right above the note the was a limp Lilium. Its colors were faded and it appeared as if someone had stepped on it.

"Hinata-chan….no…" He clenched the flower in his hand. He quickly sprinted west, without even thinking of going to get the others. "HINATA-CHAN!"

**End**

**Sorry I kind of finished this off really quickly...**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey sorry It took so long I was away on Va-Ca for a week and I just got back so sorry for any delay.**

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chpt 3**

Naruto was running through the woods looking for any sign of Hinata. _A twig, a piece of hair, pleas God give me anything!_ As if answering his prayers something caught his eye. A tree, a think oak with an arrow carved into its trunk. He clenched his fist tight and hit it against the trunk... _Of course they want me to find them..._. He kept running as fast as his legs would carry him. He didn't care what happened to him but if anything happened to Hinata... he shook any thoughts of Hinata injured out of his head and simply thought about what he will be facing. He knew for a fact that there was more than one but other than that...he was in the dark. He was still at a full run until he came across another sign the kidnappers gave him. Attached to a tiny tree a little to the right was a Leaf headband with multiple scratches in it. _Hinata-chan..._ There was blood soaked into the cloth and dirk in every grove. His teeth clenched in pure anger...just thinking about them dragging her through the dirt... He forced it off the tree and starred at the symbol very intensely. He gripped it tight and returned to running, there was no time to stand around. _Hinata-chan..._Images of her giving him a blushing smile flashed through his head. _Hinata-chan..._He thought of all the good deeds she had done for him in the past, giving him her test to cheat of during the chunin exams, giving him medicine when he was injured, talking to him whenever he was down. _Hinata-chan! _He thought of them talking all night only hours before. _Hinat-chan! Please! Be Alive! What if i can't make it? NO! I will save her, I have to! _He ran for a long while, following directions until he noticed something ahead which made him stop. He started to walk slowly forward, staying absolutely silent. He crept into some bushes which opened up just enough for him to look ahead but he doubted others could see him so easily. He was looking upon an open field with a large rock tucked all the way in the back, in the rock lay a huge opening. The cave had two men around it, obviously set as guards. One was laying off somewhere completely knocked out while the other was asleep in the upright position he obviously fell asleep at his post. Naruto didn't want to think of a plan, any second wasted to be Hinata's last so he jumped out of the bushes. "HEY WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HINATA-CHAN?" the one stationed at the front was startled awake and looked around unfocused. His attention landed on Naruto and before he knew what was happening Naruto made seven clones that all ran straight for the man and all attacked in a blur of orange. He beat him until he was knock unconscious. He stood over him thinking of that he should have went a little easier to at least keep him conscious but as he thought this he jumped as he heard a yell from behind him he turned to see a foot fly and hit him straight under the chin throwing his neck back the was a fierce crack as pain shot threw his spine. He flew back landing on his side. He looked up to see the other guard standing there. Naruto stood up and decided he need to beat him as quickly as possible. He made one more clone, while he focused chakra in one palm, the clone guided and directed the chakra into a spiral. They did this for a until the Rasengan was formed perfectly. His clone then grabbed his opposite arm and flung him straight for the enemy, making contact with the man's stomach and sent him flying back, crashing into trees. Naruto ran to where the half conscious lay, he had blood running down his mouth and down his forehead. He looked up at Naruto who picked him up by the collar and started to shake him. "Where is she…." He gave Naruto a confessed look.

"W-who?" Naruto shook him even more fiercely.

"Hinata-chan….THE GIRL YOU TOOK FROM THE WOODS, WHERE!" the man was still wearing a look confused but soon became wide eyed and glanced over at the cave. Naruto set him down and turned to look at the cave opening just as three figures started to stumble out. Naruto was about to attack them but he noticed something odd, they all had a very hard time walking. The men speech was slurred and made absolutely no sense and it soon became very clear to Naruto the they men were completely drunk. Naruto paused for only a second and then ran straight for them he attacked them and they seemed to fall so easily he didn't even need clones. While he ran straight for one, the man just turned around to laugh with the others. Naruto only needed one good punch for the man to collapse. The others just laughed even harder at there friends misfortune. Naruto took them out with a kick to one stomach and a punch to the others mid chest. Naruto stood up straight and looked in the cave it was nearly pitch black but he could barely see a small bit of light some where deep in the cave. Naruto went in side though he didn't have any idea for his surroundings, he walked fast searching every where for Hinata he didn't dare yell out to her, fearing to alert someone else. He finally came across a lantern that was attached to the wall. He grabbed it and started walking. There appeared to be some torches on the wall, all going in one direction so he followed. He soon came across a very large space. He couldn't see much but there was one thing he could just barely make out. It was a figure huddled in the corner. He approached it slowly yet cautiously, ready for a fight if there was one. He watched the figure moved slightly but very franticly. He the heard a slight murmur barely a whimper. It was tiny small and very fragile, it sounded as if someone was crying very softly. "H-hinata-chan….is that you." The figure froze and remained completely still for only a second.

"N-Naruto-kun? You're really here? Or am i just dreaming again?..." Naruto moved the lantern so he could start to see Hinata more.

"Yea it's me I'm here Hinata-chan." Naruto went to her and she fell into his arms, tears running down her cheeks.

"Naruto-kun…..it was horrible…." Naruto looked at her getting a better look. Until now he hadn't even notice the condition she was in. It was obvious she had been assaulted physically, sexually and mentally. She had bruises and cuts all along her face she had defensive wounds on her hands and arms. The zipper on her jacket was broken, as if it had been forced open. She even had bite marks on her neck and arms. Naruto was horrified at what a state she was in and he couldn't even imagine what other wounds she might have. He cradled her in his arms as she sobbed into his shirt. He whispering soothing words to her, which seemed to calm her down slightly. As she tried forced herself to pull herself together, she looked up at Naruto. "N-naruto-kun….I know this is an odd request but…..can you…can you please tell me a story?" Naruto had a puzzled look on his face which made Hinata turn a little pink in her cheeks. "I-I know it sounds childish, but it will help distract me…." Naruto thought for a second then nodded.

"Sure Hinata-chan." He thought of which story he could tell. Seeing that he knew a very slim his mind kept going back to one particular story. He tried to think of another but he just wandered back to it. He gave up trying to find a different one. He took a quivering breath and began his story.

"Once upon a time, in a place called the Village Hidden in the Leaves, there lived a little boy. This boy just sat on a swing all day, crying about the parents he had lost. He hated how the other people could just move on with there pleasant lives while he was miserable. For reasons unknown to the boy at the time everyone hated him and avoided him he was completly alone. But as he grew a little older he learned a little more about his past. There was an attack on that same village by a horrible beast called the Kyuubi. It had attack the village destroying everything in sight, it killed thousand of people…" He paused at this point looking at Hinata, whose face was unreadable, but she had stiffened in his arms. So he unwillingly continued. "There was only one person who stop such a horrible beast. They called him the Fourth Hokage. He had sealed the beast inside the boy right after he had been born. The boy started to grow up, understanding why people hated him, but he had made a pact to himself and to almost anyone he met. That he was to be the Hokage and have everyone in the village respect him and love all he do for them." He stopped, searching for words but found none. Hinata who had dried her tears at this point sat up straight with a knowing expression on her face. She looked at him.

"Tell me something…..what was exactly this boy's name?" He paused looked her in the eye and looked down at the ground.

"Naruto…His name was Naruto Uzumaki…" Her expression didn't change. Naruto closed his eyes, knowing he had just lost one of his closest friends. He started to move but was stopped as Hinata threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Naruto just sat there stunned for an instant, he didn't know what to do but he quickly recovered and hugged her back tightly. And there without exchanging any words, something had changed between them, and they both knew it. After a few seconds Naruto pulled away and looked Hinata in the eyes. "Thank you Hinata-chan…." She answer him with a blush and a smile.

Naruto was walking out of the cave with Hinata on his back. When he found out her ankle had a slight sprain he had picked her up and put her there with no complaint from Hinata except than a blush. As they passed the unconscious bodies Naruto felt Hinata stiffen and tight her grip on him. Naruto made an effort to walk faster until they were well away from the cave. When Naruto and Hinata finally reached the camp sight it was nearly dark. They were greeted with echoes of "Were have you been?" and "Do you know how long you were away?" Neji asked about Hinata's injuries, Naruto had saved a flustered Hinata by merely saying they ran into a little trouble in the forest. Everyone was a little skeptical but didn't bring it up again.

For the rest of night Hinata was latched on Naruto, nothing big like hanging on his arm. Even if her pinky was merely touching the brim on his jacket, that was good enough for her. She always made sure that Naruto wasn't getting angry with her but he didn't seemed bothered by it at all. On more than one occasion she had even seen a flash of pride on his eyes. As if he was happy and proud to be Hinata's own personal protector. But as the sky grew darker Hinata knew everyone would get even more suspicious so she forced herself to stay at least one person away from him. But while they were all around the fire talking Naruto just came around and sat right next to her making the other girls laugh among themselves and Hinata blush. During that time any rustle in the woods or a snap of a twig would make Hinata grab on to Naruto's arm. The first few times this happened it made Naruto jump, but after a while Naruto started to find it very amusing. Even riding in the cart Hinata was terrified. But other then that everyone seemed to be just fine.

Hinata woke up to something hitting her head fiercely, only to find her head bouncing of the side of the cart. She looked at her surroundings and found that she was the only one up, except for Katashi. She slowly got up, making sure not to wake a snoring Naruto in the process. She slid over and sat next to Katashi, she hugged her knees to her chest. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did….but sure."

"Why were you the one who was asked to escort the prize? Is there any reason?" He signed and seemed to looking somewhere, thinking intensely.

"Well it either this or prison…" Hinata was shocked she didn't even know what to say to him. "I was chosen for this because it is basically a suicide mission. They knew alone I would never be able to live through this. That is why I asked the Hidden Leave for help."

"What did you do to have them hate you so much?"

"Well it is kind of a long story….You see when I was a little boy I grew up in one of the most powerful clans in the village. I was even called a child prodigy. I suppose you have heard of the Summoning Jutsu?" Hinata nodded. "Well our clan was known for summoning one particular animal, a lion with wings. Each person has a soul lion who they grow up and train with normally they can summon that particular lion around age thirteen. Well I summoned mine at age three. Apparently that was a sign. There was a meeting with my family and the lions and they all reached a decision. I was to go to the world of the winged lions and train. I lived there until I was twelve. They focused on teaching me one specific technique called the " "Lion's Instinct Jutsu." In which my physical strength and speed be comes almost god like. But it has a deadly price. I lose track of all common sense rely only on instinct. I start to forget who is a friend and who is and enemy. I just kill what or whoever is in front of me. Well one day my clan was under attack by jealous clan from the Village of Steel. We were under attack, we were useless just sitting ducks. I watched my entire clan fall before my eyes. I got so angry I just lost control. I went on a rampage kill everyone who even dare got in my way and in the process of kill the other clan, I killed about seventy others wounding hundreds, without even knowing what I was doing. Well after that day the village were debating what to do with me. They didn't want to try to kill me for fear of just triggering my anger again. So they sealed away all of my powers and destroyed it so I am no longer able to even be a ninja anymore. I can't even mold chakra. Still afraid of me they made me and offer. If I came back on this suicide mission alive I was free to go, but if I refused then I was to be sent to the worst jail in the whole land. I knew I could survive in prison so here I am….." Hinata was speechless the only thing she could muster to say was,

"I-I'm so sorry…."

"Don't worry about it….Hey you might as well go back to sleep we will be arriving in the Village of Smiths tomorrow and trust me, as soon as we get the prize we are going to be in a whole lot more danger." Hinata nodded and after saying goodnight she slid back next to Naruto and faded away into a peaceful sleep.

**The End**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chp 4:**

Naruto woke up and was surprised to see that there was no one else in the cart. He looked around and saw that everyone were looking at a huge gate he quickly jumped out and ran over to them. "Hey! What is this place?" Katashi stepped forward to examine the door on the gate more closely.

"This is the entrance to the Village of Smiths."

"Okay then why aren't we going?" Katashi turned back and glared at him.

"Do you have a disease or are you really that stupid?" Sakura stepped behind him.

"Trust me, we all wonder that everyday…."

"Sakura-chan!" Katashi just rolled his eyes. Neji trace his finger along the door.

"Here just examine these markings." Naruto walked over and looked at the door closely, he was shocked at the craft. He was looking at a huge piece of faded copper, with great detail pressed into it. He pressed his hand to the door and moved his fingers along it's strange carvings.

"Okay I give up what am I looking at?" Katashi stepped forward.

"This is the beloved masterpiece of the Village of Smiths. They call it "Death of the Silver Mooned Fang." It was created by the founder of this Village. He made it in honor of all the souls they lost during the first of the Great Ninja Wars." Naruto looked at the door again and squinted.

"Eh…..I still don't see it. Are you sure this guy knew what he was doing?" Katashi lowered his head.

"Wow…you really are an idiot aren't you….." Naruto scowled at him.

"Na-Naruto-kun…" Naruto turn and noticed Hinata standing a little ways away, starting at the door. She signaled him to come over. He went over and stood next to her. She pointed at the door. "Try and look at it from this angle." Naruto turned to look at the door, his eyes grew huge.

"Whoa…" He was looking at a huge field with what appeared to be broken weapons and armor scattered along the ground. Along the center crease of the door there was a single sword stuck in the ground. Wrapped around its hilt the was what appeared to be a burned piece of clothing. While behind it there appeared to be the sun rising over some mountains. Naruto couldn't even speak the detail of the copper door was unreal. He just started with amazement in his eyes. He didn't know why or how but the door had put him in some sort of trance. He was brought back to reality by a gentle shake on his shoulder. He looked down into the pale eyes of Hinata.

"Naruto-kun…everyone is waiting on us. It is time to go…" Naruto took one more look at the door and nodded.

"Yeah…ok….." Naruto quickly went running back to the rest of the team.

As they road into the village Hinata noticed something amazing. Each one of the buildings had a different significant from the one before it. It appeared that all of them were created from a different metal and were crafted to their own unique style. What was odd to her was that even though the building didn't seem to match the others, they were still able to combined in one great masterpiece. She watched as merchants set up stands for food, games, and kimonos. "Um…..Katashi?

"Hmmm?"

"What is going on here? A festival?"

"Yea they are celebrating the completion of there village."

"Completion?"

"Yes well the saying goes that when the founder found this place it was nothing but baron land no crops, metals, or even water for miles but he told everyone that he was to build a great nation on that exact spot. He worked hard and turned the rock hard land into a prospering salivation. There was only one thing missing. They had no metal for weapons, armor, or buildings and they were completely lacking because of this. They were threatened by enemies at the time and they were lacking in equipment to defend themselves. So Legend has it that once his son was old enough to take over as the leader of the village, the founder went to a near by cave and merge his soul with the earth. The next morning the people were surrounded by ores for tons of different metals from all over the world. People say that it is impossible for some of the metals to be found in such an area. Thanks to him, his people were able to create weapons and defend themselves from there opponents and that is what everyone is celebrating." Hinata nodded and admired the rest of the amazing village.

After awhile Naruto grew bored of sightseeing so he did large one large stretch and laid down in the straw on the floor of the cart, closed his eyes and yawned. Just a he was getting comfortable he felt the wagon come to a stop. He sat up and was looking up at a huge fortress made from tons of different metals. It appeared to be the tallest in the area and had multiple walls surrounding its main building. It seemed to be heavily armed with no weak spots. Katashi jumped out and tide the oxen to a near by post and made they had food and water before turning to them. "Okay I must meet with the leader and make arrangements for the prize and while I meet with him you all can enjoy the festival tonight. Think of it as a thank you for all your help so far." Naruto jumped out of the cart.

"Alright! I can't wait to see all the food, maybe they even have ramen…."

"However I would like if one of you could meet the head with me." Neji stepped forward.

"If you don't mind I would like to accompany you." Katashi gave him a nod of appreciation.

"Well the festival should be open by now so the rest of you can go and shop." The girls eyes grew wide.

"Shop?" Katashi nodded again

"I saw multiple stands selling some rare clothing, only made by lone tailors who take residence somewhere near by." The girls jumped up and down in excitement while Naruto just groaned. Laughing, Sakura took Naruto's right arm, Ino on his left and TenTen pushed his back. All three of them then dragged a reluctant Naruto, kicking and complaining, in the direction of the festival. Leaving a giggling Hinata to follow closely behind.

Hinata stood wearing a beautiful, strapless dress that ended just above her knee. Snow white at the top and leading down past her stomach. It faded into a pale violate, getting darker until the bottom corner was such a dark rich shade of purple, it was nearly black. Something about the dress just seemed to draw her attention more than all the others. She turned around look at the back and was about to do another full turn until she heard someone knock on her door. "Hinata? Do you have the dress on?" Ino sounded just as excited as she was to see the dress.

"Uh Yea I do."

"Well get out here, we want to see it!" Hinata gave a half laugh.

"O-ok ok I'm coming.:" She opened the door to the changing room and was face to face with a smiling Ino.

"Ahhh Hinata it is perfect!." She spun Hinata around to get a full look. "I am so jealous! This dress is absolutely you. Come on lets show the others." Ino went behind her and pushed her to where the other girls were looking through tons of clothes. " Everyone look at this dress on Hinata!" TenTen and Sakura turned and squealed and ran up to her. They moved around trying to get the best view of her. She noticed Ino giving Sakura a sly smirk. Hinata was confused until they grabbed her arms and started pulling her. "Oh Naruto!" Hinata blushed and franticly try to free her self.

"Ino-chan please no!" But they all just laughed and tightened their grip and kept dragging her. When they couldn't find him Sakura whispered to Ino and TenTen who smiled and nodded. Sakura then ran ahead of them. She made a few turns and then signaled them. TenTen and Ino then push Hinata in that direction while Sakura ran to get someone. After they made the final turn Hinata saw a complaining Naruto being push straight towards them. As soon as he saw her, he stopped and started.

"Wow…You look amazing!" Hinata looked down at her feet.

"T-thank you Naruto-kun….." The more he started the deeper shade of red her cheeks turned. Hinata then realized she still hadn't paid for the dress so she excused herself and ran back to pay.

Hinata was watching as TenTen held up a kimono that had all the colors of the ocean. "Well Hinata what do you think? Or this one?" TenTen switched it for an identical one but it faded into a glorious reddish orange, the same as a sunset.

"I think the bluish-green." TenTen took a better look at the ocean colored one.

"Yea…I think you're right." Hinata gave a smile and nodded. TenTen paid for it and quickly ran to Naruto. He was standing of to the side away from all the shops, holding all the shopping bags that the girls, except Hinata, gave him to hold. He had an odd look on his face, a mix of pain, boredom, and annoyance. TenTen raced over and put the bag on one of Naruto's arms even though both had at least ten bags each. He gave her a little glare but held it anyway. TenTen then ran off to find more shops. Hinata knew she was done shopping so she quickly went over to Naruto and took about twelve shopping bags that were on his left arm. He gave her a surprised look but she just responded with a blush and a smile. Naruto grinned back at her, thankful that he now had someone to talk to.

After awhile the rest of the girls visited all of the shops so they deiced it was time for dinner. After dropping off the shopping bags at the cart they all went to find something they would all like to eat. Unfortunately none of them could decide on anything. Ino and TenTen wanted to go to a stand that sold dumplings while Sakura was up for Shiratama Anmistu. Naruto's vote was still for ramen and Hinata stayed quiet. She would try to find something she would like at any stand. Sakura gave up and was fine with having dumplings but Naruto was persistent. The girls told Naruto he could go by himself if he wanted and he seemed very content by that agreement. Naruto then turned to Hinata.

"Hey you've been pretty quiet Hinata-chan, you up for ramen with me?" Hinata blushed and pure red and nodded.

"S-sure Naruto-kun." He grinned back and then they were off to the ramen stand. Naruto sat down and didn't even need to look at the menu. Hinata however had no clue what to get. Naruto seeing her confused look laughed to himself.

"You need some help?" Hinata got a little flustered.

"Oh w-well I don't get ramen very often so I don't exactly know what is good…" Naruto pointed to what he was getting.

"This is my personal favorite, it is even better with an egg, sound good to you?" Hinata smiled.

"Sounds perfect." Naruto nodded and ordered for them when Hinata got her food she was surprised at how big it was. After awhile Hinata couldn't help but giggled as Naruto slurped the remain of his ramen and set the bowel down rather loudly. Hinata smiled and slid her bowl towards him, it still had a little less then half. "You want the rest of mine? I am pretty full." Naruto gave her a happy look.

"You sure?" She smiled and placed it in front of him.

"Go ahead." He gave her a smile of appreciation and finish what was left in the bowl. After he finished they paid and were on their way. After walking for awhile they came a man holding a sign sponsoring fireworks for tonight. Naruto asked Hinata to wait for a minute as he ran up to the man.

"Hey what time are the fireworks?" The man looked at his watch.

"Ummm in forty minutes."

"Ok so where is the best spot to see them?"

"Well The absolute best spot is right up there." The man pointed to a ledge on the side of a mountain. "almost no one knows about that but it is the perfect spot."

"How long does it take to get up there?"

"Well there is a path that takes you right up there it take around…twenty minutes."

"Hmmmm Thank you so much."

"No problem." Naruto ran back to Hinata and grabbed her hand, causing her entire face to turn a deep red.

"Here follow me." He then started to lead her to the spot the man pointed out to him. It took them about ten minutes to fined the path and twenty to climb. They stood there gazing at the stars and talking to each other. All of a sudden the fireworks started, they were far closer then the expected and it caused Hinata to stumble back and Naruto caught her. For some reason Naruto could bring himself to let her go and she was grateful her didn't. Hinata gazed at them with wonder and amazement. She looked at Naruto who was in a trance with a grin on his face which made her smile to. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her smiling at him and turned to face her. Suddenly he got lost in her pale eyes, every explosion was reflected in them. He leaned forward and he watched as she did the same they were only a few inches apart. As Naruto started to close the rest of the distance they heard a voice from behind them.

"Aw that's sweet it hurts that we have to break up this moment but we need to talk." They both turn around fiercely to find about five large men. All had black mask except the largest one in the middle. "We need to talk about the boy you're traveling with. Don't try to deny it. We know you are escorting the prize to the Hidden Cloud Village." Naruto stood up

"Not again…..how special could this prize really be?" The one in the middle chuckled and then signaled his men. they moved so fast Naruto could only see a blur until he felt something heavy land on him and he was force to lay on his stomach. He looked up and on his back sat the leader of the group. The men's feet pined Naruto's hands to the ground. Naruto looked over and saw two of the men holding Hinata's arms and forced her to her knees. The men sitting on Naruto's back threw Naruto's item pouch to on of the men watching them.

"Here check this. See if you can fin anything of value. Do the same with the girl." One of the two men holding Hinata threw her puoch to the other man who did the same. Naruto started to squirm free. The man tightened his hold on Naruto. "I don't think you should do that." he signaled to the men holding Hinata who nodded. One pulled out a kunai spun it around and held it to her throat. Naruto saw the fear in her eyes and immediately stopped. The man patted Naruto's head. "Good choice." Naruto watch as the men rummaged through what they had in their pouches. Then man with Naruto's pouch held up a Hidden Leaf headband with a along scratch through it. "Oh that is interesting." Naruto tried to get free once more.

"No Don't you dare touch that!" Then Leader smirked.

"Well I think we have what we're looking for." The other men nodded. "Well we are going to go but if you want to see the little head band again then you need to bring us the boy from the Cloud Village. They call him Katashi Kimura. Am I clear?" Naruto snarled at him who only chuckled. "I will take that as a yes." He got off Naruto to who flew straight for the one holding the headband. He made a punch straight at the man's chest. As his hand hit the mans chest a shot of pain flew through his arm he doubled over slightly gripping his hand.

"Naruto-kun!" the men nearly laughed and the leader threw a crumpled up piece of paper at Naruto.

"Here. These are direction to our site if you don't bring the boy before midnight tomorrow we will track you down…" The men let go of Hinata and all five ran into the woods, holding Sasuke Uchiha's headband. Naruto stood up and made a move to follow them.

"Naruto-kun wait!" Naruto stopped and looked at her.

"We can't just let them take his headband! We need to follow them!"

"We will Naruto-kun but we need to alert the others and get help." Naruto glared in the direction that the men ran and nodded.

"Yeah…you're right. Come on we need to hurry." He grabbed her hand and ran to go find the others.

**The End**

**Thanks for Reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chpt 5:**

Sakura was laughing with TenTen and Ino. "No No I'm telling you, I have all my money on Shikamaru." Ino pushed her slightly.

"Shikamaru? I highly doubt it. He can't have anything worth showing. Now Shino, he seems like he has something to hide." TenTen laughed even harder.

"I swear it has to be Kiba, every wild guy." The other girls just laughed and continued this conversation until they heard something. "Wait…..Is that…Naruto?" All the girls turned and saw Naruto running up to them fast with Hinata on his heels. "What is he screaming about?" Sakura strained her ears.

"Men in black…um…Headband stolen…Help…" Naruto finally reached them.

"We need to go get Neji and Katashi!"

"Um….Why?" Hinata appeared from Naruto.

"While Naruto-kun and I were watching the firework five men appeared from nowhere."

"They pined us to the ground and ran off with Sasuke's headband!" Sakura froze.

"Sasuke's….headband…..?" Naruto nodded. TenTen just looked confused

"Wait…What is so important about his headband?" Sakura looked down.

"It is the last thing we have that belong to Sasuke…..The last thing linking him to the village." TenTen looked down.

"Oh…..Well what do they want with it?"

"W-we need to bring Katashi-kun to them." Ino look confused.

"Wait they didn't demand the prize?" Hinata shook her head.

"No they just wanted Katashi-kun."

"Hmmm that's odd." Hinata nodded again.

"We must go find Neji-senpai." They all gave a nod and ran to the Metal Fortress.

Neji was walking next to Kantashi who was holding the prizes safely in his arms. "Alright once we bring the prize back to the wagon we can go search for the rest of your team." Neji only nodded, he wasn't exactly excited to have to deal with Naruto again. As the neared an open window Neji heard something. He went up to it and looked out and there stood a frantic Naruto yelling at the guards that were placed at the front gate of the tower. Neji merely sighed and rushed down the hall to the stairs and ran out to the gate.

"Naruto! Be quiet, you are going to offend the lord of this land."

"Neji we need to talk." Neji finally reached to them.

"What is it?" Hinata step forward.

"Naeruto-kun and I were ambushed. They told us to bring Katashi-kun to this location." Hinata handed Neji the paper the masked men had left them. Neji scanned the paper over and looked up at his team.

"Alright we are going to bring the prize back to the cart and then we will sit down and think this through." Everyone else stood up a little straighter.

"Hai!" By this time Katashi finally reached them.

"Hey….What's going on?" Neji pushed him forward.

"I will explain on the way, come on." He hurried Katashi out of the gate.

Hinata was kneeling in the wagon. She moved away the straw and started tapping lightly on different floorboards until she located what she was looking for. She slid her finger along the crack until she came across a tiny hole, then took a needle and slid it into it. She pushed down on the needle until the boards moved upwards. She removed one and set it aside. She then looked back and was handed a black box by Katashi. It was smooth and made with a very solid metal. It appeared to have at least three locks on only one side. She placed the box in the opening on the floor, replaced the boards, and covered it with straw. When she finished she looked over at the rest of the team who were all sitting in a tight circle with Katashi standing over them. They were all talking in hushed voices, except Naruto.

"What do you mean it isn't a priority?" Neji shook his head and seemed very annoyed. Hinata quickly jumped out and ran over to them. Neji was just glaring at Naruto, trying very hard to keep his signature calm.

"Look I understand it is important to you but we have no idea how many enemies we are dealing with. What abilities they might possess or what they even want with Katashi in the first place." Naruto just glared right back

"So? This is a comrade we are talking about. Besides why are you the one who makes the deception?"

"Because I'm the leader of this team!"

"Well I say we put it to a vote."

"A…Vote…?"

"Yes a vote, so everyone has a say in what we do." Neji pondered this thought for a minute.

"Hmm alright…..and I vote we move as fast as possible and stay under the radar of these ninja, forget the headband." Naruto kept his glare fixed on Neji.

"I vote we go after these guys head on and get the headband back." Sakura, who was sitting next to Nauto, spoke up.

"Same. I think we can take them." Naruto gave a smirk at Neji, who only glared more. All their attention turned to TenTen who was sitting next to Sakura.

"Well…I think I need to vote for Neji's plan." Ino and Sakura looked shocked.

"What?"

"Look I completely understand why we should go and get it back but face it, a headband vs. a persons life." Sakura and Ino looked at her for another second then nodded. It was then Ino's turn.

"I am voting with Naruto and Sakura." Naruto then started to beam.

"Well there we go I guess we are going aft-" He was cut off by Katashi.

"I think I should get a vote." Naruto looked up at him with a look of confusion.

"What? I don't think so."

"Look it is my life baka so I think I am entitled to at lest one vote." Naruto was about to speak up but Neji stopped him.

"I think that is very fair." Naruto only glared.

"Good, then I vote we forget the headband and try to move far away from them." Naruto glared even harder than Hinata thought was possible, Neji gave a smirk.

"Well now our vote is a tie." Naruto frowned, and looked as if he was thinking hard of what he should do next. He then got a look of triumph.

"Hinata-chan hasn't voted yet." He turn to look at her. "What is your vote?" Hinata need to ponder this thought for a minute. She knew that they would have a better chance to save Katashi and the prize if the go with Neji's plan but Saskue was their comrade she felt obligated to help. Her eyes then met Naruto's, and she saw the look of pleading in them. She then turned to Neji.

"I think we should retrieve it." Neji kept his face calm but Hinata knew he was a little frustrated. He then nodded.

"Alright we will go after them. But listen to me Uzumaki, during this entire plan you need to follow every instruction I give you." Naruto smiled and gave him the thumbs up.

"You got it!" Neji looked at the rest of his team.

"Okay here is what we are going to….."

Hinata was moving quickly but silently threw the tall grass with Sakura on her heels, with TenTen behind her. Hinata kept her Byakugan on Neji, waiting for the signal. When they finally reached the clearing they stopped and took their position. Hinata was laying down on her stomach and army cradled underneath a bush, until she could easily see the campsite. Hinata was shocked, there had to be at least forty men, some sitting around a large fire, others were gambling. While Hinata was scanning the area one thing caught her eye. A large thrown type chair sat right in the middle of the clearing and there sat the leader of the men that had attacked Naruto and her. He appeared to be very impatient and very bored. Around him were four other men who also she recognized as the other men that were with him. He glared at the men who were started to get drunk. The man shook his head, obviously very angry. "Listen to me! Lay off the sake!" All the men drinking turn to him with pleading looks. "If any of you takes so much as one more sip, I am going to kill all of you! We have some guests coming soon and you need to be on your toes and stay focused." The men pouted but nodded and quickly put the cork back on their sake bottle. Hiinata brought her focus back to Neji staying in their places for a few more minutes to make sure that the opponent had their defenses down. Hinata then saw Neji give a signal telling her to attack in five, four, three, two, one. Hinata got up and ran out of the bushes with Sakura and TenTen right behind her. They completely took the men by surprise and they easily took out about five men without them even fighting back. Then about seven men from around the fire came rushing at them. Hinata being the fastest was the first to strike. She it one in the ribs but had to retreat as his sword came down, leaving himself wide open for Sakura's fist to collide with his chest. TenTen was next she quickly unravel a scroll, bit her finger and slid her blood across one of the markings. She placed her hand to the marking and formed her chakra into he hand. Soon in a puff a smoke, appeared what to be a Kusarigama. The blade on the kama was polished so much that it reflected just as good as a mirror. She spun the chain so fast you could barley see the weight on the end. TenTen then flicked her wrist and sent the weight spinning straight for a man that was sneaking up on Sakura's left. She had thrown the chain at a perfect angle and it quickly bound the man. She then gave a good tug and the man came flying back straight into Hinata's outturned palm. He fell limp instantly. They then were able to repeat this a few more times until one man was able to get a hold on the chain. He then pulled TenTen off her feet and swung her right into Sakura, leaving Hinata to fend for herself. She was able to hit one man but another took her by surprise from behind. He quickly grabbed her arms and twisted them until they were behind her. Some of the men then quickly bound the girls hands with rope and forced them on their knees in front of the thrown. The leader of the group merely laughed as the girls tried to kick at the men who drug them near his chair. He promptly stood up and walked over to Hinata, who had been keeping her head down all this time. "Ah well who do we have here, a shy one….." He then kneeled down in front of her. "Do you not have any manners? Look at me when I speak to you." Hinata didn't move. "Didn't you hear me?" The man then quickly placed hand underneath her chin and force it upwards, bringing her face up. Her neck gave a very painful pop. "I said look at me when you're being spoken to!" Hinata kept her head up but would dare look at him in the eyes. The man gave a look of surprise and a little of wonder. He then fiercely turned her face in the direction of one of the men positioned and the right side of the thrown. "Hey Iwao! Does this beauty of a flower look familiar to you?" The right hand man known as Iwao stepped forward. He quickly removed his mask and squatted down next to his leader, peering at Hinata with stone, cold, gray eyes.

"Hmm now that you mention it…..I believe she was the girl the was with the annoying, spiky hair kid. The one with the headband you have sir." Iwao pointed at the thrown and Hinata finally noticed the missing nin headband hanging at the top of the thrown. The kunai holding it in place was obviously stuck in the stone. The leader looked back at Hinata and examined he face more closely.

"Ah it appears your right Iwao, I remember those terrified eyes." The Leader then released her face, got up and kneeled in front of Sakura. He then place his hand under her face and examined her. She then forced her face away from his grip, gave him a quick death stare, and spat right on his cheek. Some of the surrounding men froze while others made a move at Sakura. The leader then held up a hand to stop them. The men seem confused but the leader had a look of amusement of his face. He chuckled as he wiped the spit of his cheek. "He-he-he looks like we got ourselves a feisty one." He gave another quick laugh before he slapped Sakura right across the face, hard. It seem to relax the rest of the men, some even start to laugh a little. The man then grabbed Sakura's jaw and wrenched it towards him so she was looking straight into his eyes. "Now missy I wouldn't do that if I were you. Someone might get _**Angry**_!" he emphasized on the word "angry". The man then got up and moved on to TenTen.

Naruto was shaking under Neji's firm grip. After the man had did some of those thing to Hinata, Naruto had been aching to jump out of the bushes and ran to go beat the crap out of them. Just as he was about to just that he was quickly pulled down by a forceful Neji. He gave Neji a questioning look, who only responded with a knowing glare. As the next events made Naruto lose control, by the time the leader of the men had slapped Sakura, Neji was force to put him in a full nelson hold. Which left Ino to pin his legs firmly to the ground, forcing Naruto to watch the next events in pure torture. The leader of the man stood up and gave the girls a solemn bow. "If you ladies would be so kind as to call me Yuu. If you would be so kind as to tell me your names…." none of the girls spoke. "No one is talking?" More silence. "Hmm very well….I guess we can't this formal. By the look of all your forehead protectors I would say that you are all her for that." He pointed behind him at the headband. "So you didn't like my offer? You couldn't have brought the boy here? We would have been very reasonable and merley given you the band, but…you seem to hate reasoning….What a pity….you three might have survived….." Sakura then deiced to speak up.

"Can you answer a question for us?" Yuu seemed to be very amused.

"Why sure ask anything and I will try my best to answer…"

"Tell me…..why didn't you request the prize? You only told us to bring Katashi…." Yuu just lightly chuckled to himself.

"Alright I'm in the mood to answer your little question. I will let you in on a little secret. I actually hate treasure, it brings nothing but temptation and greed, something I am happy to live without. Of Corse when it comes to power…that is something I believe the more the better. I don't believe he told any of you about his special little gift…." Naruto was completely lost he looked at Neji hoping for some idea of what was happening but Neji was occupied with something else. Naruto's gaze then fell upon Katashi who had a look of frustration. Naruto then turned his attention right back to Yuu. "Well Katashi has immense power seal away inside him, yet because of jealous rivals he can't even use it. It is a shame really so much potential wasted…..So I believe I can help them out a bit and take the burden of all that power off his shoulders…Then you come here an try to deny me that right? Hmmm Well tht is just bad luck for you….." He then signaled to his men. "It looks like our new lady friends will be staying with us for awhile!" All The men cheered some even grabbed for the girls who quickly shook them off. "Alright men take them away." Then when all the attenton was back to the girls Sakura quickly pulled something out of her glove. Se tossed the round thing in the air and smirked to herself as she saw all the men look right at it. The flash bomb then exploded it a burst of blinding light. Naruto knew that was what they were waiting for. He shot up and did the hand signs for the Kage Bushin no Jutsu and forty Naruto's appeared. All of the clones quickly attacked one person each, while the real Naruto, Ino, Katashi all grabbed the girls and cut the ropes binding them. Neji quickly leapt and removed the kunai from the stone chair. They then only had one more second until the flash bomb had worn out. After everyone had regain there sight they were completely shocked. Naruto's clones had been able to defeat every opponent except Yuu, Iwao, and the three other men standing around the thrown. Yuu looked around and shook his head in disbelief. "Pathetic…." Iwao stepped behind his leader.

"I don't even understand why we kept them around…the only true fighters are you, Takeshi, Shoji, Yasushi, and myself…."

"True but they are normally a good time saver….I guess that isn't the case this time…." One man with brownish black hair, that was combed in his face, stepped forward.

"I do believe these aren't ordinary Shinobi…"

"I would say you are right Shoji…" Another pushed himself to the front to get a better view of them and Naruto could this person was absolutely crazy.

"HEHEHEHE You always overestimate….HEHEHEHEHE I say we can Kill them Easily." He then pulled out a long curved sword and started running his thumb along the blade, making his thumb start to bleed. The final man forced the crazy one to put down his sword.

"Calm yourself Takeshi…You are far to impatient….." The one called Takeshi shook him off

"Shut up Yasushi! You don't know what you are talking about!" Yasushi only looked at him with unwavering eyes. Yuu only shook his head.

"Both of you Shut Up!" Yasushi turned his head to Yuu and took apologetic bow. Even Takeshi stood up straight and stayed silent. Naruto could even see that all these men were horrified. Yuu only nodded.

"Alright then….enough talking I would say it is time to go on the offense….." All of the men gave a triumphant smirk. Yuu pulled out a large heavy looking sword. "Okay…I don't want any prisoners…Kill them all…..KILL!" All the men ran straight for them with blood in there eyes.

**The End**

**THANKS FOR READING!**

**Reviews are welcome!**


	6. Chapter 6

**NaruHins Petals: **

**Chapt 6**

Hinata quickly jumped to her left as a spear with a very odd blade, came straight down. "Hmm you're quick on your feet…" Hinata was looking at the man that they called Yasushi. He had an odd look of calm in the eyes as he gave her a slow, solemn bow. "My name is Yasushi and I am from the Tomioka Clan." He gave her a look which made her know she was suppose to introduce herself to. She gave him a quick but sincere bow.

"I am Hinata, from the Hyuga Clan." He gave a nod.

"A Hyuga? As in the Great Hyuga Clan of the Leaf?" Hinata gave a hesitant nod. "Hmm…Well Hinata from the Hyuga Clan…." he raised he staff and took his stance, "prepare to die…." His speed was like lighting, nearly invisible. The only thing that saved her life was with her Byakugan. He kept forcing her back, right into a tree. He stopped moving just enough for her to see him perfectly inches away and that was when she saw her chance. He jabbed his spear, aiming for her thigh, she then kicked her leg up and watched as the spear dove into the ground. Hinata then brought her leg fiercely down. The spear broke right in half. Yasushi stopped attacking, he lifted his broken spear and examined it. He gave a tired sigh. "That's a shame….I was planning on selling this for a great price….Oh well…hmm a Hyuga might get a good price….I guess we will see." Then without warning, he gave a huge swing of the broken spear nearly hitting Hinata in the side of the head. She ducked down putting all of her weight on right foot and extending her left leg out wards she then used her chakra and spun smoothing on her heel and gave a powerful kick to the back of Yasushi's leg. His knees buckled and down he fell. Hinata then used that opportunity to push off her left leg getting a fairly high jump. She then brought her right leg down, hard, aiming right for his stomach. As her leg made impact, she heard a sickening crunch as numbness shot up her body. She then doubled over in midair, clutching her leg. Teeth gritted she landed on her left side, paralyzed in a horribly numb state. She heard something that made her sick to her stomach. Laughing. The worst laughter Hinata had ever heard. She opened her eyes to see Yasushi's body slowly rise. Bushing himself off, he had the most joyfully crazed look she had ever seen on a human face. "Oh? Did I forget to mention this?" He raised his shirt so it reached his chest. Hinata gave a horse gasp. There was an old looking stomach plate, made of a glistening metal. Hinata could even feel the immense chakra flowing from it. He started laughing again at her expression. "Obviously not….do you honestly think that we would face opponents without chakra armor?" Hinata started to cough uncontrollably as she started to feel a liquid come up her throat. She quickly tilled her head to the side as she felt the liquid leave her lips. As she looked down she saw a crimson red spot on the grass. Yasushi then seem to snap out of his crazy state and regain his composure. Hinata looked straight into the stone cold eyes and flinched slightly as he raised his broken spear over his head. As he brought it swiftly down Hinata squinted her eyes shut bracing for the blow. When it never came Hinata open her eyes and looked up and gasped as she was looking at the back of Naruto's orange jacket. The spear was deeply wedged into Naruto's left hand as his right hand was forcing was gripping the shaft of the spear tightly.

"Urg Hinata-chan Get out of here!"

"But Naruto-kun you're hurt should I help-" tears started to fill in her eyes and roll down her cheeks.

"No you can't worry about me right now. I promise I'm not going to let him hurt you."

"Why…" Naruto didn't respond. "Why did you do that?" Naruto turn his head and gave her a truly happy smile.

"You've become one of the most important people in my life what would I do if I ever let anything happen to you?" Hinata was stunned but quickly recovered to hide her face so Naruto wouldn't see her blush. She gritted her teeth as she pushed off the ground with her left leg and painful crawled away from scene. As she slowly retreated under a bush she started to search. Her fingers then found exactly what she was looking for. A thick stick, almost a log. She forced herself to sit upright. She then grabbed the stick and set it standing up. She raised one hand focused her chakra and brought it down on the log, splitting it perfectly in half. She then went on the search for an equally size stick and repeated this process. Hinata then removed her jacket, so she was wearing her jet black undershirt. She took the bottom rim of her jacket in both hand and started tearing it in long strips from the bottom up. She then placed two of the four pieces on both right and left side of he broken leg. She the took a piece of her jacket and wrapped it around her leg. After starting the knot she knew exactly what she had to do next. She closed her eyes, too a quivering breath and quickly tightened the knot. Pain shot threw her body like lighting as tears rolled down her cheeks but she knew she couldn't stop she just kept tightening the cloth until she was almost unconscious. She then wrapped the cloth around the back once more and made another knot. She then grabbed two more pieces of cloth and tied knots underneath and above the first. She then grabbed the other two pieces and placed them on her shin and calf and was then forced to repeat the entire process until she had created a homemade cast. She then crawled over to a large tree. She forced all her weight on the tree and forced herself to stand. She then started to painfully limp back to the fight. As she peered through the bushes, she watch as 20 shadow clones of Naruto attack a lighting fast Yasushi. Every punch Naruto threw Yasushi dodged with ease. Once in a while Naruto was lucky enough to actually land a blow on Yasushi which was fallowed but a pain filled yell come from Naruto as he clutches his knuckles. Yasushi would only smirk and start the attack all over again. Hinata frowned in concentration.

"There has got to be some weak spot in that armor…" Hinata the summoned up her chakra and activated her Byakugan. Right away she noticed something odd, it appeared that all of the chakra that made the armor so strong was focused in 5 main orbs on the body. One spot on the top of each shin, one each upper arm and the strongest of them on the upper stomach. "Hmm…..maybe we've attacking at the wrong angle." Hinata then got an idea.

**End**

**Yea I know real short but I could think of anything to write next so I decided just to post what I have so far but Don't Worry I Am Still Posting, it will just take awhile**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yeah I know it took a long time but I really didn't want to rush this chapter so I took my time and I think it is finally ready. Sooooooo here you go!**

**NaruHina Petals**

**Chapter 7**

Naruto stood above the unconscious form. His breaths were lighter now, less urgent. His head was swimming in his thoughts and from a lack of oxygen. He looked down into the deep gray eyes, then up into the pale purple ones. "How…..*huff*….The….*huff*….Hell?…*huff*" Hinata smiled and looked down at the broken piece of chakra armor. As the metal glisten in her hand she started to laugh slightly.

"I..*huff*….Don't…*huff*….Exactly….*huff*…Know…but…*huff*… If you look at the armor…*huff* it only had five main points….*huff*….I just hit them with my gentle fist but how I even got a hit…*cough*…I have…*cough*…No…*cough**cough*…Idea-" Hinata was cut of by an uncontrollable cough. She thought it was just another cough until she felt an odd warm sensation creep up her chest. The more she coughed, the more she felt the feeling of liquid in the back of her throat.

"Hey!*huff* Hinata-chan are you ok?" Hinata signaled the ok to Naruto with her right hand and covered her mouth with her left. She gave one more fierce cough and shuddered as she felt the taste of iron on her tongue. She fell to her knees coughing and gasping for air.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto scrambled to his feet and raced to her side. He put a tense hand on her shoulder. "Hey Hinata-chan are you ok? What the Hell is wrong with you?" Hinata was coughing even fiercer now. She double over from a ping of pain from her side. As the blood started to make its way out of her mouth, she felt a combination of gratitude and embarrassment as she felt Naruto's warm and gentle hands gather all of her long hair that surrounded her face and gather it all in an odd ponytail. Tears started to drip down from her eyes and join the settling blood below. In between coughs and wet gags Naruto heard a croaked out a gasp.

"I'm s-so sorry Na-Naruto-kun." Naruto shook his head and softened his voice.

"Hey…it's fine. This isn't your fault, don't you dare apologize." but Hinata's pained and embarrassed tears kept flowing. He whispered soothing words in her ear, telling her that she shouldn't feel bad about any of this. Naruto gently placed his hand on Hinata's side, steadying her, only to find the source of Hinatas problems. "Hinata-chan!" Hinata looked down where Naruto's hand lay to find a piece of the spear lodged in her side. She was shocked but more aghast by how much it didn't hurt. It felt like a deathly numbness.

"*Gasp* *cough cough* Sakura! *Gasp*"

"Right. Right. Hang on Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan! Saukra-chan!" Tears started to stream down his whiskered cheeks. His cries became more pleading now. "Sakura-chan! Where are you? Sakura-chan!" As if answering his prayers he was a flash of pink on the small battlefield. She was fighting the ghostly looking one called Shoji. Naruto summoned all the pain and worry he stored and brought it all to one final plea. "SAKURA-CHAN!" Finally a worn out Sakura looked over at them. "What am I suppose to do she's hurt! There is a spear in her lung!" He watch as a thinking Sakura dodged and weaved through flying shuriken. When she finally had an opening, Naruto watched her pull out a piece of blank scroll and a kunai. She quickly bit her thumb and used her crimson blood as an ink. After tying it to the kunai she gave a huge sweep of her arm and the kunai came soaring in his direction. He quickly put his body in front of Hinata's and forced her down. The untamed kunai sliced through the air inches above their heads. The was and on clink and Naruto saw a wild spark as the kunai collided with a rock and ricochet off its surface. Naruto ran and grabbed the sharpened piece of metal and yanked off the note. He hurriedly skimmed through the markings which read.

"GET IT OUT OF HER! Apply pressure to the injury and she should be able to use simple ninjutsu to help it." Naruto read the note over and over again. He didn't know how to get it out and was scared he would just do more damage then good. But if he didn't the wound could easily get infected and put her in even more pain. Naruto was stuck contemplating what he should.

"Argg what should I do?" He was finally brought back to reality by Hinata's horrendous coughing. He then took a quivering breath. "Okay." Naruto rushed back to Hinata's side. Naruto kept his voice calming. "Here Hinata-chan let me look at that." He gently pushed her black undershirt above the serious wound. He took one look at it and was nearly sick. After overcoming the over whelming urge to vomit he gently laid Hinata on her back. "Hinata-chan this is going to really hurt you but understand this hast to come out, ok?" Hinata felt her heart beat fiercely in her chest.

"Yeah." Naruto reached into his item pouch and pulled out a long piece of cloth, used for medical purposes, rolled it up and placed it in Hinata's mouth.

"We don't want you to get lockjaw." Naruto quickly took his own orange and black jacket off and set it next to him. He placed his hand on the broken spear. "You ready?" Hinata pleadingly grabbed Naruto's free hand and shut her eyes tight. She took one more shuttering breath and nodded. "…Ok" Naruto tighten his grip and started to pull. Hinata's entire body felt like she was being shocked with electricity. She gripped Naruto's hand with all her might not even thinking about if it might hurt him. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing nor the screams that were gagged by the cloth. She cried his name, begging for him to stop, but he merely shook his head and kept pulling at the spear. She was in so much pain, as the metal slowly creped out of her body, she blacked out. A few seconds later she had regain consciousness again only to start the process all over again. The cycle was only broken when she felt water on her forehead. She finally opened her eyes and took a look at Naruto. Even through tear filled eyes it was obvious he was crying. "I'm so sorry Hinata-chan. Almost done. Almost done. She won't be in anymore pain. Keep going." He kept whispering to himself over and over again. She realized that Naruto was hurting just as much as she was. He had to do something that she could never even attempt. She quickly stopped her shouts and shut her eyes. She squeezed Naruto's hand even tighter, trying to comfort him just as much as comforting herself. After what seemed like an eternity, Hinata finally felt the pain start to subside, followed by and icey numbness. They just sat their for a second crying and holding they others hand, beside them lay the broken spear. Naruto snapped back to reality, wiped his eyes and bundled up his orange and black jacket. He slowly started to apply pressure. Hinata laid her head back in the grass, think the nightmare was over until she started coughing again. With the spear out the blood flowed freely which meant she was coughing up more now. She felt her lung start to fill and kept coughing up more and more blood. She tried to sit up, the liquid couldn't exit easily, but she was to weak. She couldn't breath now, so she grasped for Naruto's shirt, begging for help but he had no clue she was drowning in her own blood.

Sakura was lying face down in the ground, happy she had finally got a deadly blow to come in contact with Shoji. It was just a good thing her opponent didn't wear a helmet. Sakura forced her protesting body to raise it's head and scope out the land. Ino had defeated her opponent and went on to help TenTen fight a crazed looking ninja which left Neji to barely hold his own with Yuu. Yuu was unsuccessfully trying to come in contact with Katashi, who was standing with his back to a tree. Sakura kept moving her head and her gaze finally fell upon Naruto and Hinata. She knew Hinata would need medical attention but as long as Naruto followed the instructions that She had given him, then Hinata should be fine. Sakura started scanning the scene but again she look at Hinata, something didn't feel right. She knew Naruto wasn't a medical ninja but something just felt wrong about what he was doing. She was squinting now, trying to make out the imagine. Finally she saw Hinata, clutching on a distracted Naruto. Sakura watched in horror as a frantic Hinata tilted her head trying to let the blood flow out of her mouth. Sakura jumped to her feet with no complaint from her aching body. Her adrenaline was taking over now. She sprinted full speed to the scene with only one cry. "BAKA!"

Naruto was pushing harder now trying to put a frantic Hinata out of pain. "Don't worry Hinata-chan I will stop the blood, don't worry." He put all his attention to the injury he wanted to help his Hinata-chan get thorough this with as little of pain as possible. He knew he was doing the right thing because Hinata had finally stopped pulling on his shirt. But even with all his attention on the wound he couldn't help but turn and star as heard a great and familiar "BAKA!" Sakura was running and screaming straight for them. Sakura dove on her knees and skidded right to where Hinata's head lay. Naruto was confused he knew he was doing everything right, until he look at Hinata. She was pale with an odd tint of bluish to some parts of her cheeks. Sakura tilted up Hinata's head and began a cycle of CPR. One, two, three, four, breath. One, two, three, four, breath. She continued this technique until Hinata gave and odd gurgle and sputtered out blood. Sakura the took Hinata by the underarm and set her in a sitting form, so she was reclining on Sakura's own body. She then took Hinata's head, moved it into a better position, and waited as Hinata was coughing up the remaining blood which ended landed on her black undershirt. When she was finished Sakura moved her into a more comfortable position but still kept her head up. She then turned on Naruto. "What the Hell were you thinking?" Naruto was caught off guard.

"W-What? I did exactly-"

"You didn't even think to elevate her head?" Naruto was confused for only a second more until he realized what he had done.

"No…."

"You could have killed her!" There was silence. Sakura took a controlled sigh. She looked at him, her face softer. "Thank you Naruto, you really did save Hinata's life." Silence. "Look it was my fault to, I didn't give you good instructions." Naruto finally spoke but in a low, deep mumble, almost a growl.

"She almost died…."

"Naruto…"

"She almost died….and it was because of me…"

"Naruto you didn't know….I should have told you, I'm the medical ninja, I was in the wrong as well."

"I almost killed her…" Naruto's mind was fuzzy. He didn't even know how he manage to stand up or hear Sakura attempts to calm him down. "I couldn't even help my friend." Chills started to overcome his body as a low grumble in his ear.

**Yes….see what happens when you get close someone Kit?….. You just hurt them…Now you understand the rules between a Jinchuuriki and humans…There will be nothing but hate…"**

"No…There has to be something I can do…She needs me…"

"**Do you really think that she needs someone how will only hurt her? Do any of them **_**need**_** that?" **

"…"

"**Take my power Kit…Then maybe you might be able to protect them….Just like how you tried to protect Uchiha Sasuke…." **Naruto's vision stared to go red as he felt the liquid hot chakra pump through his veins. It was as if he were falling, falling into the power, the darkness, the evilness. He closed his eyes and prepared to impact but it never came. He was suspending right above the charka. It was if something from real world was pulling him back to reality.

Naruto's mind was hazy, he couldn't tell where he was or who he was. All he knew was someone was touching him. Naruto's looked down to a soft pale hand griping the leg on his black and orange pants. Naruto followed the source of the arm up to the calmed face of Hinata Hyuga. Her eyes were tired and strained yet very soft. Each corner of her mouth had a stream of blood which went down to her chin yet they were upturned in a small, sweet smile. That tiny smile seemed to bring Naruto back to reality. The anger and rage seemed to die down know. It was if all his fears, all his troubles just seemed to melt right off him. The Kyuubi itself seemed to fall asleep. Naruto watched as Hinata mouthed the words.

"How is Neji-senpai?…." Naruto looked where Neji was fighting for his life. Neji's techniques was defiantly superior to Hinata's but he couldn't seem to lay a crucial blow. Yuu finally change his expression from a toying amusement, to a frustrated rage. Yuu grabbed both Neji's arms twisted them fiercely. He then gave a huge throw and Neji went flying.

"I'M DONE WITH THIS!" Yuu screamed as he grabbed a fighting Katashi by the collar and started to shake him like a rag doll. Naruto sprinted right to where a sick grinning Yuu was forcing Katashi to his knees.

"Katashi!" Yuu looked at Naruto with a crazed smile.

"He-he-he-he-he-he-he-he You're to late you spiky haired brat….Witness the power that is known as the "Instinct Jutsu!" Yuu put his hands on either side of Katashi's head and poured his chakra into Katashi's skull. The chakra went into Katashi's brain right into his psychic and there he found the seal. Yuu did more then thirty hands signs in a record speed and brought his hands back on Kaashi's head. "Release!" Katashi entire body went limp as his eyes rolled back in his skull. He hit the dirt face first and made a deafened thud.

"Katashi! KATASHI!" Naruto's anger that had been building up quickly turned to adrenalin and released it all into his running. He wasn't even thinking anymore. Left, Right Left, Right, One foot then the next. As his view of the scene finally came into view he saw something that made his legs simply quit moving. It was so abrupt he dove into the ground and came to a skidding halt. He looked up from the dirt to see Katashi, his body slowly rising from the earth below. He was keeping his head down and his body movements were very odd. They were lifeless, dead. It was as if a string from an unseen source was forcing his body to move. The lifeless body started to quake as he finally got his footing. Then, without warning he head snapped up and Naruto was looking into a face that was defiantly not Katashi's. His eyes, instead of their deep brown, were now the color of melted gold. His brown hair seemed to fame his face in a short, yet perfect mane. Both assets seemed to go along with sharpened canine teeth which were now showing as Katashi let out a low, deep growl from the back of his throat. Just as Naruto thought the growl was directed at him Katashi's head slowly turned and looked at Yuu. Yuu seemed confused now, not very excited with how Katashi was looking at him. Katshi's body moved, slowly and gracefully, as he took a stance that was identical to animal that was ready to pounce. Yuu started to back away, he wasn't sure what was suppose to happen but he didn't like how Katashi looked ready to kill.

"I love a good chase…" Katashi said this in such a low growl that was almost unreadable. And then, without warning Katashi pounced. He moved so abruptly Yuu barley moved in time. Naruto watching in horror as Katashi kept trying to get a killing plow. As a groan reached his ears Naruto knew exactly what he should do. Naruto quickly got up and ran making sure to stay out the way of the fight. He ran straight for where Neji lay. When Naruto came up to him Naruto saw Neji's body laying on the ground almost unconscious. Naruto quickly put Neji's arm around his shoulder and helped him stumble back to where the others gathered to regroup. As they finally neared Neji forced himself to stand without any help.

"Neji! Don't strain yourself." Neji gave Naruto a look not to worry and he backed off. Neji limped over where Hinata was trying to fight the impossible urge to close her eyes.

"Hinata-sama, are you well?" Hinata gave a small smile and a faint nod and mouthed the words

"Yes my brother…" Neji nodded.

"Good…Sakura just focus on Hinata-chan." Sakura nodded and poured more chakra into Hinata's body. TenTen watched as Katashi battle Yuu.

"What are we suppose to do about Katashi? He has completely lost control…" Neji sat down and tried to figured things out. Naruto kneeled down and leveled Hinata's head in his lap. Neji put his head in his hands.

"Idon't know…His chakra is so intense it actually hurt to use Byakugan…" TenTen turned to him.

"Can't you or Hinata like…I don't know…stop the flow?"

"It isn't that easy. With power like that I don't know if there is anything that can stop it."

"Ah Hinata-chan!" Neji looked up and turned to face Hinata. She was trying with all her might to sit up by herself. Even though there was no use she had a certain determination in her eyes. Naruto tried to push her back down. "Don't force yourself." Hinata shook her head a kept trying but to no prevail. Neji got up and moved closer to her.

"What is it Hinata-sama?" Hinata mouthed something but Neji couldn't read it. He moved closer but he still couldn't understand. He moved even closer until he could actually hear her breathing in his ear and again she repeated herself. As Neji strained to listen and his eyes sooned widened as he pulled away. "No." Hinata gave a pleading look. He merely shook his head again. "It is to dangerous and in your condition, that would be suicide." Naruto looked at him.

"What? What did she say?" Neji shook his head. Hinata gave him a glare and tried to sit up again.

"No Hinata-sama."

"Neji what did she say?" Neji looked down at her.

"Do you really think that would work?" She gave a knowing nod. "And you understand the consequences?" Again, she nodded. He gave a sigh. "Alright then… we can try that."

"Neji! What did she say! What are we going to try!" Neji looked at him with a grave face.

"The Cage Seal…."

Naruto was taken aback "T-The Cage Seal?" Neji nodded.

"It might work but I don't think Hinata-sama is healthy enough." Sakura looked up from Hinata's wounds.

"What does it do?"

"Well if performed correctly a Hyuga can actually control the physical brain of their opponent." Naruto cocked his head.

"How the Hell could that help us in this situation?"

"With that technique we can actually cut of the charka of whoever has this mark…" Neji untied the knot in the back of his head band and let it fall. there on his forehead was the odd "x" that was the Hyuga's famous Cage Seal Jutsu. "If we can get this mark on Katashi's forehead we can easily stop his rampage…" Naruto excitingly jumped up.

"That's awesome Neji! You just have to get close to Katashi and then you can put the mark on him. Simple!" Neji shook his head.

"It isn't that simple…" Naruto looked confused. "I can't perform the technique because only the Main Branch Household can perform it. They use it to keep the Side Branch under control." Naruto was getting frustrated.

"Well then why even bring it up if you can do it?" Neji looked up and glared at him.

"Because if you recall, Hinata-sama is part of the Main Branch and she lent the Jutsu when she was only six years old."

"W-what? Hinata-chan can…"

"She learnt it to keep me controlled…." Neji nodded again. "Even though she vowed to never use that technique on me or any other Hyuga, she still has the power to activate it." Sakura stood up like a shot.

"No! She is in no condition to even get close to that fight." Naruto noded

"There is no way we are going to put her that kind of danger." Neji kept glaring.

"Do you have any other idea?"

"We can think of something! How could you even suggest that?" Neji stood up.

"Hinata-sama was the one who suggested it. I believe it is up to her." Naruto shook his head again.

"It is out of the question she can't-" Naruto was cut off by raspy voice, barely a whisper.

"Stop…It is my choice…" Hinata finally got her self to sit up. "I'm going to use the jutsu…" Ino kneel beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hinata…you know you don't have to do this… if you think you aren't up to it we can find another way." Hinata thought for a second as she looked around at her teammates. When her gaze fell upon Naruto their eyes met and should exactly what to do. She looked back at Ino and nodded.

"I can do this." Ino smiled but Sakura frowned.

"Hinata you can even stand let alone get close enough to put the seal on without dying."

"Maybe someone can help me but….."

"What is it?"

"I'm out of chakra…" Naruto stood up and gave her a solemn look.

"No prob Hinata-chan, I've got chakra to spare." She gave him a small smile and forced himself to return it with a pain look that just barely passed as a smile. Neji nodded and turned to Naruto.

"I must speak to you…"

Naruto was moving through the trees in complete silence with Hinata on his back. When he finally reached the end of tree line. He looked out to the battle to wait for an opening. "Naruto-kun…." She had noticed the worried expresstion on his face. She tried to take the weakness from her voice. "Naruto-kun, I know you wont let anything happen to me." he looked her straight in the eyes.

"Just promise me one thing Hinata-chan…" She nodded.

"Anything"

"No matter what happens today, promise me that you are live to see tomorrow…" She stared at him letting his words sink in. She then smiled at him.

"I promise Naruto-kun." His expression didn't change but he nodded and turned to watch the fight. He finally saw an opening.

"Hang on tight Hinata-chan." and thee jumped through the trees.

**Hey! Well I would just like to stop and thank everyone who comment on my stories, it really means a lot to me and to show I am listening to everyone I decided to start something new. Comment or message me a question or statement and I will respond to it in my next story. You can ask me anything. Like about my views on Naruto, my other favorite Manga's, favorite movies. I have one request, please don't make them **_**TO**_** personal. If I find a question a little stalkery I won't respond. Thanks guys, send me your questions!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay!**

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chapter 8:**

Naruto was tired. His muscles were screaming and he just so happened to miss getting any sleep the night before. He quickly realized why Sakura had told him not to drink his tea so late in the evening, he was now wishing that he had listened.

"Damn…. Where is TenTen?…" Naruto thought as a right hand swung past his head. "She needs to hurry up…" Naruto had a near unconscious Hinata on his back and knew if he gave in even a little then Katashi would kill her as well. Naruto couldn't help but remember what Neji said to him only minutes before.

"_**Naruto I'm afraid Hinata-sama isn't thinking straight." Naruto gave him a confused look. "She isn't thinking through the plan nor is she thinking of the consequences that it might have. Instead of thinking of her wellbeing she is only think of you." Naruto's expression turned from one of confusion to one of utter cluelessness.**_

"…_**.Huh?" Neji stared at him for a second, he wondered if Naruto was serious. After another second Neji just sighed and dropped his head.**_

"_**Never mind but for me to agree for this I need to keep Hinata out of any danger that she can't handle. If she can't go through with the jutsu then I want you to bring Hinata back here and we will get a new plan. I need you to keep her safe." Neji gave him an expecting stare until Naruto finally nodded. "Ok then."**_

Naruto was brought back to earth by a horrible battle cry. He looked over to see a blood thirsty Katashi sprinting at a blinding speed straight for them. His teeth were barred and his eyes starving for prey. Naruto turned on his heels and jumped to the right. He was soon angry that he didn't take his time to work on his footing and he and Hinata dropped to their sides and started to skid. Hinata was force to let go of her hold on him and she rolled further away. Naruto scrabbled to his feet and rushed to her. He grabbed a groaning Hinata by the arm and tried to help her to her feet but something was wrong. She was like dead weight, body limp, not even trying to help him. The only sign of her even being alive was a moan of pain and frustration. "Come on Hinata hurry and get up. I know it hurts but we need to get out before he turns around." Hinata, eyes closed, wrapped her weak arms around his neck and gave a feeble attempt to jump on his back. She reminded him of a tired child begging to be carried to bed. Naruto quickly caught her in horrible piggyback. He straightened his legs till he finally standing upright and gave her a small toss. He got a better grip on her and started running again. Katashi turned back around and charged again. "TenTen what the Hell?" Naruto jumped from side to side, zigzagging right to Katashi. Katashi made a catlike pounce high in the air. Naruto tried to maneuver away from the claws but he knew it was to late. Right before Katashi's claws touched Naruto's cheek, he was jerked back in the air and hit the ground at Naruto's feet. Naruto was stunned. His eyes were wide and unblinking and for some reason there wasn't enough air filling his lungs and the fresh air surrounding him was to thin to take in. He honestly thought he and the girl on his back were going to die. He eyes slowly looked down to Katashi who was growling at the chain around his ankle.

"HAHA got him!" Naruto's eyes crept up the chain until the found the source. A grinning TenTen and Sakura were tightly gripping the chain of the Kusarigama. TenTen quickly let go of the chain. Her job was to aim and throw the Kusarigama and now it was Sakura's turn to keep Katashi in check. TenTen reach for her tool belt and grabbed another Kusarigama and spun the heavy weight on the end. Katashi scrabbled to all fours. He was completely ignoring the chain and was now oblivious to Naruto's presence, he had hungry eyes only for Sakura. He pounced, she didn't have time to think so her body reacted for her. She flicked her wrist sharply and sent a huge waving traveling through the chain. The links hit each other creating a song of "clinks". The wave soared until it hit the connection on Katashi's ankle. He was caught in midair and was forced back down to the earth with a dulled thud. Katashi's growls of annoyance turned to roars of pure anger. Katashi slowly got up and stood on two feet now. His whole body started to tremble as he was overtaken by anger. His head dropped and hit his collarbone as the trembling became fiercer. TenTen quickly made the decision it was now or never and threw the weighted chain. The weight spun around Katashi's body in a large circle over and over again. After the 9th spin she tugged on the chain and forced it to recoil around his body. Katashi didn't even flinch, he merely stood there shaking out of control.

"Go for Naruto!" Naruto didn't need telling twice. He scrabbled around Katashi so he was facing him and in return Katashi's head slowly started to rise. It moved at a snail's pace until finally, after what seemed like hours Naruto was nose to nose with the crazed boy. Naruto saw the pupils in his golden eyes had become slits, resembling on of a cat. Katashi's lips curled up in a maniacal snarl. Naruto could help but shutter as his eyes fell upon the teeth Katashi now boar. Not only were the canine's even sharper and longer then before but the rest of his teeth started to follow suit. The lines on his face were darker now, more detailed which only aided to the nightmare of a face Naruto was inches away from. After a few seconds of glares Katashi roared a thundering roar. It pressed against Naruto's ear drums. It was almost as if he was submerged under 100 feet on water. If Katashi wasn't mad before then he was certainly pissed now. Katashi's teeth gritted in pain as he started to flex his arms. His roar turned into s blood curling scream as the chain joined in the screeching. The thick ovals of strong metal started bending, just waiting to snap. Naruto could only just stare at the sight before him.

"Naruto! What are you waiting for? I can hold this forever!" Sakura was pulling on the chain with all her might but it was slowly started to give… Naruto looked back at the breaking links binding Katashi and knew Hinata had to moved now.

"Ok go ahead Hinata-chan I'm ready when you are." Hinata's head hit her chest and jerked back up in a pathetic excuse for a nod. It took her every bit of strength to not give in to the screaming urge to sleep. Naruto's words were the only thing keeping her conscious now. She extended her wounded arms out and gently placed her index and middle finger of her left hand on Katashi's forehead. While her index and middle fingers of her right hand went just under the bone in his jaw. She quickly poured the remainder of her chakra into Katashi. Her life force was completely gone in seconds, her eyes fluttered, her head felt like it gained 50 pounds, and blackness started to surround her vision. She felt a cool tingle on the back of her neck which crept down her spine and around her skull. She knew what it was even before it started to take its toll on her body. Her head dropped to Naruto's shoulder and her eyes sagged. Just as her arms started to fall she felt two large and hot hands grab them and hold them in place. Her eyes were open just long enough to see Naruto's kage bunshin. He hurriedly wrenched Hinata's hands back to potion. All she wanted was to speak but her mouth couldn't move. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry. That it was time to give up, she was at the end of the road. She wanted to thank him for all he did for her past, present, and future. She wanted to tell him something that she had wanted to tell him for some time but just never found the words. The emptiness finally extended and just as she was about to welcome it with open arms, she was forced back to the real world. It was like razors digging into her outer thigh. They carved into her skin and melted into her muscles. Her eyes shot open as her mouth dropped. The only thing she thought of doing was to scream, scream until she couldn't feel the razors but she was mute. Her widened eyes shot down to her thigh and didn't find knives, but instead found Naruto's fingernails, sharp and thick. They clenched her leg, prying into her skin. She tried to face him hoping he would let up but she fell dumbstruck. The deep ocean blue eyes that use to fill her with so much admiration, were now cold, emotionless, and was the same color as fresh blood. The whisker birthmarks that she had found so adorable, they always made her smile for they reminded her of a playful animal, were now fiercer and very thick. She didn't like the way his teeth were starting to appear out from under his top lip. She took it all in, unable to ask any question until the pain brought her back to reality.

The horrible pain, it was as if her heart was starting to pump melted lead through out her veins. She felt like she was going to explode from the pressure of fierce power that was sluggishly making it's way through her body. She finally discover the source of all her discomfort. It was Naruto himself, his charka moving its way through her body like fire on gasoline. The chakra crept through her body and with every passing inch it just brought more and more pain. She felt a scream churn up from the pit of her stomach. She was force to swallow it down, which only made her feel nauseous. The feeling of scorching hot tar made it's way all the way up her spine. She finally came to the conclusion, if she wanted to stop the pain she had to get the chakra out of her system A.S.A.P. She focused all of the power in the square of her back until she imagined the chakra as two spheres. She forced each sphere up her back and over her shoulders. Finally she manage

to spheres of fire down her arms and into the palms of her hands. She took a deep breath as she tried to ignore the sound of rushing water in her ear. She focused the power in her palms and shot it out like rockets through her fingertips. She maneuvered the chakra through Katashi's brain, hitting any cell or tissue that needed to be moved, all the while locking her aim on the path way between the first and second chakra gates. She remembered back to her childhood, when she and her father would sit on the steps and look out at the inner courtyard of the Hyuga Compound. There they would talk about her previous training sessions, family news or anything going on in their lives.

"_**Hinata you do realize that you will need to use that technique sometime." A five year old Hinata Hyuga sat next to her father looking down at her hands that she had clenched in her lap. She shook her head rigorously but kept her mouth shut. Hyuga Hiashi gently placed a hand on his daughter shoulders. "Hinata this is for your own protection. If anyone from the Side Branch frightens you or appears to have deadly intentions then this is your only means of stopping them." Again Hinata shook her head and again she stayed silent. Hiashi gave a sigh and reclined on the steps and looked up at the clear summer sky. "I'm not going to force you to use that jutsu but I will ask this of you. Please let me teach you the move. It will ease my mind to know you always have that option." Hinata finally looked from her lap and gave a side glace to her father. She searched his face of any signs of disloyalty. After finding none she gave him a smile nod.**_

"_**Ok Father." Hiashi sat back up again and put his large hand on the top of her head. He gave her short hair a small tussle before giving a small, raspy chuckle. **_

"_**That's my girl, thank you Hinata" She turn her face toward him and gave him a sweet innocent smile. A smile only a child who hasn't face the hardships of the world could give. Just as Hinata was about to acknowledge him, the sliding door behind them opened. Hinata turned to see who had interrupted them and when she finally realized who it was she broke into a huge smile. She stood up and ran to go meet the newcomer.' **_

Just as the most joyful memory started to form it's image before her eyes, she was forced out of the clouds and back to earth.

"Hinata-chan! Come on!" She had almost forgotten about the attack she was now suppose to execute. She focused with all her might on the path. She inhaled sharply and use all her power to seal the pathway closed, hitting multiple nerves in the process. A scream filled her ears as Katashi fell to the ground writhing in pain. His body trembled as he clawed at his forehead. Hinata could just barely make out the Juin Jutsu seal forming. Hinata quickly performed several hand signs and force Katashi's chakra pathways completely closed. She exhaled the breath she had held, proud at what she had done. That she truly was able to help the team after all.

'It's done…It's done..' Her eyes fluttered and she finally gave into sleep.

**XXXXXXX**

Neji ran over to the quivering body that was laid on the hard rock below. He grimaced for he remembers all to well of the unmentionable suffering that comes with that God forsaken mark. Even as a child of only four the memory will for ever be burnt into his skull.

_**A four year old Neji sat on his knees in the center of a dimly lit, circular room. The only source of light were eight candles, all positioned in a circle surrounding the boy. In front of him, also on his knees, sat the elder of the Main Branch Family. To the elder's right sat Neji's only uncle Hyuga Hiashi and to his left sat Neji's father Hyuga Hizashi. Along the right side of the room sat many members of the Main Branch. On the left, the Side Branch sat parallel. Each family sat with the backs of the feet along the curved wall. The line up of Hyugas stretched all around the room until they met directly behind Neji. There, wedged between a Main Branch member and Side Branch member sat a confused, scared looking Hinata. A young girl, only the age of three, and she was given no clue to what she was about to witness. Her worried eyes scanned the room franticly and noticed something that she never thought she would see. Each and every member of the Side Branch Family lacked their forehead protector. She could not stop herself from staring at the marks on their brow. Before bed she was always told of the mysterious mark but had never seen a single Side Branch member without anything hiding it from the public eye. Neji had noticed this exact thing before he even sat down. His uneasiness only intensified as he remember the look his own father had giving earlier that morning. Neji had tugged on his fathers sleeve, gave him a smile, and promptly asked were they were going. They only response he got was a look, it was a look of what appeared to be pity and almost apologetic. As he looked all around the room he saw the exact look upon every Side Branch Hyuga in the room. After what seemed like years the elder turned his head to Hiashi, who merely nodded, inhaled, and stood up. He strode over to the boy and looked down with a casting glare. **_

"_**U-Uncle Hiashi-san?" His uncle gave him a silencing look. He then turned the remaining Hyugas.**_

"_**My fellow Hyugas. As you all know today is the third birthday of my only daughter Hinata." At this Hinata sank a little lower on her knees. "This is a very special time for my family and I. We wish to thank all of you for celebrating this most joyous event. At this same time you realize Neji has come the age to become a guardian of both his cousin and his heritage. And of course with that honor," Hiashi glared back at Neji, "there is a burden that follows." Neji was shocked, he couldn't understand what his uncle was trying to tell him. He looked at his father, hoping to find and answer there but his father refused to look at him. He looked back up to Hiashi.**_

'_**What is Uncle talking about?' Hiashi knelt down on one knee so he was facing the young boy eye to eye. He reached out and placed two fingers of his left hand on his forehead and two fingers of his right hand under his jawbone. The boy's eyes widened in both confusion and horror. He franticly scanned the room for and form of assistance but all the Main Branch members only gave knowing glares while the Side Branch put their heads down in remorse. Just as Neji was about to speak he was force mute by the horrible pain that formed in his skull. It felt as if a large drill started grinding its way through his forehead and it only got worse from there. It was as if he could feel any and every movement of the horrible chakra. As soon as the charka hit the first gate it felt as if someone were crashing in his skull with a hammer, over and over again. It was at this point Neji could hold back his tears nor his screams of agony. He scream with so much strain he had actually broke a blood vessel. He never thought the pain could ever intensify, he was soon proven wrong. He could almost feel the pathway twisting shut as pressure surrounded his head. Even to this day Neji didn't know how his head didn't burst open during the process. He cried out, begging for anyone to help but no Hyuga moved an inch. Then finally, as if saving the worst for last, he felt is pathway fully close. It was as if his entire body was submerged in ice while his head was being burned alive. Then after Neji had completely give up his will to live, relief came as he black out from the pain. Moments later, in a cold sweat, Neji found himself in his fathers arms. He opened his eyes just enough to see the enraged face of Hyuga Hizashi glaring into the cold eyes of his twin brother.**_

"_**Just make sure Neji learns his place…" and with that Neji black out once more.**_

Neji looked up into the emerald eyes of Haruno Sakura. She was use the reaminder of her chakra to try and heal Katashi. Neji stood up and casting a look down upon her he waved her of saying, "He shall be fine in a number of hours, he just needs rest. Go and attend to Naruto and Hinata-sama. Sakura looked up at him nodded and ran over to the blonde boy.

**XXXXXXX**

Hinata could only remember waking up only once and that was to the familiar smell of the Hyuga compound. She opened her eyes just enough to see a blur of brown. 'Neji-nii-san…' She realize she was riding on her older cousins back with her arms extended in front of her. She felt the sunlight warm her face from the inside out. She gave a small, relieved sigh and then, Hinata fell into a sleep deeper then death.

**XXXXXXX**

Hyuga Hinata stood in ankle high, pitch black water which seem to stretch on forever. A faint amount of fog curled and spread across the surface of the mass of water. Hinata's eye were lazily half closed and slow scanned the sight before her. 'Where am I?…..What is this place?….' She scanned the scene once more before she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She strain her neck but say nothing. The steps got louder and louder and echoed in her ear. It took her a moment to realize it wasn't just one set but several. She finally saw to shadows make their way to her. Two human silhouettes along with one closer the ground, strolled closer and closer. Hinata gave a small squeak of surprise at the sight that was passing her.

"K-kiba-kun?" It was the large, beast-like form of none other then Inuzuka Kiba. He tottered past her without even acknowledging her presence. "Kiba-kun?…" her head turned to the other witness the next coming form. This silhouette was sleeker, walked with a smooth saunter which only seemed to amplify the ere aura that it gave off. "Shino-kun?" Aburame Shino glided past her, and just as Kiba before him, he didn't even flinch at her presence. She was dumbstruck, even her own teammates were ignoring her know. She always knew no matter how bad the situation was, Kiba and Shino would stand by her side in a heartbeat. She felt something gentle brush pass her leg. When she look down she stared at the lovable face of Akamaru. He padded along at Kiba's heel, never missed a beat. She didn't like how Akamaru did sniff the air and bark his happiness of her presence, like he normally did. They all walked past her without even a twitch of the face. Hinata turned her head at the sound of even more footsteps. Soon, who came into view than none other then Hyuga Neji. He was followed by his teammates and still more people appeared before her eyes. She watched as they all turned their backs upon her and left her behind. Then just as the last form moved out of her line of vision she heard a single set of footprints. Something was off, they were different then the ones before. These were slower, less urgent. She had no want to turn for she already knew who it was. The source of the footsteps stop just to the right of her. Hinata turned her face and stared right into the ocean blue spheres of Uzumaki Naruto. "Naruto-kun…" But they just stood there…staring. After what seemed like and eternity, Naruto turned his head forward to gaze into the beyond. He began to walk, walk out of her reach. She gasped and extended her arm just as he moved beyond her fingertips. "Naruto-kun!" He ignored her and kept walking. "Naruto-kun!" her scream finally seemed to penetrate for the blond boy finally turned. He wore a big, quirky grin and gave her the thumbs ups. "N-No….Naruto-kun wait for me! I need you!" Hinata tried to move her feet but the water was like cement and rising fast. It quickly hit her upper stomach and continued rising to her neck. "N-Naruto-kun I….I lov-" But that was all Hinata could muster before the mud like water entered her mouth and submerged her completely.

She floated, listlessly, not hearing, not seeing…just floating. Every where she turned there was nothing but darkness. She turned in the cool water looking all around, and after finding nothing she deiced that was ok. "I'm….I'm ready…" just as she was about to give in to the coolness, something caught her eye. A light, a light that wasn't there before, gleaming. It was so far away and held to much pain. The blackness held forever peace, forever tranquility but…she didn't want that. She wanted the light, she wanted it so badly it hurt to be without it. She strand for it, swimming as fast as she could, the light creped slowly toward her but still out of her reach. She deiced she would never feel its warm embrace she fell back. Falling, she the odd "spoosh" of the water and as she opened her eyes she saw a pair of angelic hands reach out and grab her arm. Happily pulling her, she dove head long into the light.

Hinata's head emerged coughing and sputtering out water. Her blurred vision scanned her surroundings and she was dumbstruck. She was standing in the middle of a huge forest. Everything in bloom and it just made her feel warm inside. Looking down she was standing in the clear waist length water of a small pond. "My my, dear sweet Hinata…You turned into a beautiful young woman." She jumped at the sound of a soft, angelic voice. She turned around and looked up in to a beautiful face and she fell in pure awe. The only word she could muster was "M-m-m-mother?"

**End **

**Thanks for Reading! **


	9. Chapter 9

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chapter 9:**

Hinata strolled next to a beautiful woman in a very awkward silence. She was a spitting image of the women, down to the last hair on her head; it was obvious Hinata was her offspring. She couldn't take it anymore, she had to break through the silence and ask a question that had been burning in her head since she emerged from the pond. "M-mother…" The word was awkward to her. Hinata had never had to call anyone that in years. "Mother…am I-I…?" The women shook her head.

"Dead? No. You were close to it though. You are actually in between stages." Hinata looked at her.

"Which means..?"

"You are very much alive, but unconscious, probably in a coma. I bet your friends are worried about you." Hinata became very flustered.

"O-Oh I must get home to my friends! I-I-I must l-let them know I-I'm alright! I can't image what Neji-san must think, or worse Naruto-kun! I r-r-really musts get ba-back! How c-can I get o-out of here-?"

"Shhhhhhh…" the women stroked her hair soothingly. "It's alright, they will be fine. You have plenty of time to relax; you can talk to them when you wake up. Now, sit down," the woman sat Hinata down on a log and faced her, "and tell me all about that "Naruto-kun" you mentioned."

**XXXXXXXXX**

Naruto was walking to the cart with his back turned to the hospital and a scowl on his face. "Hey Neji you sure we should leave Hinata-chan alone? What if something happens to her while we are away?"

"Hinata-sama is strong. Plus the nurse said she has become stable, she will be fine." Naruto shrugged

"Fair enough. Hey speaking of which how are you feeling Katashi?" Naruto asked the groaning boy joyfully.

"Well I'm feeling like shit, how are you felling Naruto?" He replied mockingly.

"ARG Hey you jerk I was just trying to be nice, sorry if someone being helpful pisses you off you jackas-"

"I DARE YOU TO FINISH THAT SENTENCE UZUMAKI!"

"DON'T MIND IF I DO, JAC- ARG!" Naruto and Katashi both were silenced by a solid punch to the gut by an ill-tempered Sakura.

"Both of you shut up, I can't even hear myself think!" A crying Naruto rolled on the ground in pain.

"Sakura-chan! Why did you have to go and do that?" Katashi''s movements were parallel to Naruto's.

"Seriously, that was uncalled for…" Sakura gave a sweet and innocent smile.

"Oh you're right…" Naruto's head popped up in surprised and studied Sakura suspiciously. "I shouldn't have said those things to you…what I meant to say was, SHUT UP AND GET YOUR BUTTS IN THE CART NOW!"

"Y-Yes Madam!" They each gave her a quick salute and sprinted to the wagon. Neji sighed as the other girls applauded.

"Impressive Sakura!" Squeaked TenTen. Sakura gave then a broad smile.

"Yeah. It's all in the voice." the girls laughed and marched to the cart ready to continue their mission.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"Hmm….I see…so if you didn't make chunin that year, when did you finally earn the title?" It took Hinata only a second to reply,

"A full year after." Hyuga Hiromi smiled at her daughter.

"That's my girl, strong, just like your father." Hinata smiled at her mother but stayed quiet. They stayed in silence until Hiromi finally asked the question they were both dreading. "How….how is he?…Your father…" Hinata stared into her mother's eyes for a long time before her lips finally parted.

"Not well…" Hiromi nodded. She knew Hiashi to well to know he would just move on. "He has changed Mother…He changed so much that…he isn't even the same person anymore."

_**"That's my girl, thank you Hinata" Just as Hinata was about to acknowledge him, the sliding door behind them opened. Hinata turned to see who had interrupted them and when she finally realized who it was she broke into a huge smile. She stood up and ran to go meet the newcomer. She threw her arms around the expanded belly of her mother. **_

"_**Oh!" laughed Hiromi "Careful Hinata, I not so balanced with 20 pounds pulling me forward." Hinata's tiny arms shot back.**_

"_**Opps…" Hiashi gave a small groan as he stood followed by his horse laugh. He quickly picked up Hinata and kissed the top of her head. He then proceeded to give his wife a sweet kiss, one filled with love only he could provide for her. "Mother?" Hiromi looked away from her husband to the still child with eyes full of pure excitement.**_

"_**Yes, love?" **_

"_**When is my baby sister coming again?" Hiromi chuckle.**_

"_**About a month sweetie." The little girl's eyes grew wide.**_

"_**Mother?" she repeated.**_

"_**Yes Hinata?" the small girl looked down at her feet.**_

"_**She won't take my room will she?" Hiromi through back her head and laughed.**_

"_**No sweetie, she will have her own room." Hinata stared at her mother stomach with a tint of sadness. "What's the matter honey?" She looked up at her mother.**_

"_**Even if she has her own room…could she…come visit me and my room?" this made both of the adults burst in to laughter.**_

"_**Of course she can." Hiromi stroked her daughters hair, "Whenever you are lonely or need a friend you always have your sister."**_

"_**Kay!" Hinata blurted quickly, only made the two laugh even harder.**_

It has been a very long time since Hinata saw that particular memory so clearly. Her father had changed from that loving man into the cold clan lead right after her mother died. After Hiromi had given birth to Hinata's sister Hanabi, she had just never completely recovered the strength and life she once had. Her blood pressure was low, she vomited constantly, she was always pale, lost a drastic amount of weight, and just never gained proteins. She died about two years later from a liver shut down and since that day her father never smiled again.

"He misses you….we all miss you…" Tears formed in Hinata's which only made Hiromi's tears to begin. She pulled her daughter into a giant hug.

"I miss you to, every day I wonder how your life is and every day I regret not being a part of it." They stayed that way crying and finally enjoying the company of someone they loved and lost years ago.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Neji jumped out of the cart and scanned the large field in front of him. "Alright let's make camp here." Everyone sprung from the cart and did their assigned jobs, except of course for Naruto who was having trouble setting up the tents. When Neji went over to check up on him, he was completely tangled in the strong fabric, trying to wrestle free. Neji just shook his head and went to gather fire wood. He walked a couple hundred meters, gathering wood, looking for any unwanted company, and even enjoying the scenery now and then. Neji walked happily until he hit a dead end. A huge boulder, almost a small mountain, was in front of him. He quickly scanned over and all around the boulder with his Byakugan, and concluded that there were no enemies that he needed to worry about. Just as he deactivated the Byakugan a stick snapped. He whirled around ready to strike but merely frowned at the source. "TenTen?" the kunoichi stood with her arms crossed and a glare on her face. "What are you doing? Wasn't you job to find a source of fresh water?"

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" The question caught the jonin off guard.

"Wha-?"

"You've been ignoring me ever since I got out of the hospital." She put her hands on her hips matter-of-factly. "What has been going on with you?" Neji just starred at her in a daze. "Neji!" Her voice brought him back.

"Wh-what?"

"What has been going on with you?" She repeated.

"I um nothing." That was a complete lie. About a month prier Lee, TenTen, and himself went on a mission to destroy a spy base camp located on the border of the land of Fire. The mission was a success but not without TenTen getting some really bad injuries. Lee and Neji had to take turns carrying her back to the village. She was in so much pain they had to drug her up just so she could lie down. But Neji would never forget when TenTen was ready to go into surgery.

"_**L-Leeeeeeeeee?" she sang. Lee sprang to her side and grabbed her hand in dramatic desperation.**_

"_**Yes my friend, what troubles you?" TenTen opened her mouth to speak but just closed it and squinted at Lee. There was a long pause, TenTen just staring at Lee in concentration, Lee looking to Neji for help, who only could just stand awkwardly in the corner. Lee couldn't take it anymore. "Uh….What are you staring at?" her expression never fazed.**_

"_**What….are…thooooooooose?" Her words were slurred and hard to understand. Lee's brow creased.**_

"_**What are what?" TenTen pointed at his face.**_

"_**Those!" she insisted. **_

"_**What?…My…you mean my eyebrows?" Her eyes widened.**_

"_**Whoooooa! Those are HUUUGE eyebrows! They are like two little rabbits!" Lee stared at her then turned to look at Neji. He shrugged and approached the bed.**_

"_**TenTen do you want Lee to get you some water?" He asked slowly. She looked up from Lee's eyebrows to Neji, to Lee's eyebrows then back.**_

"_**Ummmmmmmmmmmm…..Yeah!" Lee bolted up gave Neji a silent thanks and ran out of the room. Neji walked up to her side and looked down at her with his normal blank expression. **_

"_**You need anything else before I go?" **_

"_**Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…." She swiveled her head all around the room in a delightful daze. She finally stopped and looked at Neji straight in the eyes. "Why are you so uptight?" Neji was taken aback.**_

"_**Wha-" a slight blush even formed on his cheeks but disappeared as soon as it had come.**_

"_**You need to just eat some candy and relax." **_

"_**What?"**_

"_**You heard me." she scoffed.**_

"_**What does that mean?" TenTen blinked.**_

"_**What does what mean?" she slurred.**_

"_**Eat some candy?" She shook her head fiercely.**_

"_**No I can't have any candy, I'm going in for surgery." she said. He just looked at her dumbstruck, she was completely serious. After a second he decided to just give up and went to sit in a nearby chair and watch her laugh at her own actions. After a few minutes of TenTen talk about nothing the nurses finally came in and lifted her onto a mobile bed. "WHEE!" she squealed. He just shook his head trying to hide the smile creeping to his lips. Just like a child. "Oh…Ohohohohoh!" Neji looked up to see a frantic TenTen waving him over. "Pssst…Pssssssssst!" she said in a loud whisper.**_

"_**What?" he questioned.**_

"_**SHhhh…" she silenced him. "Come here! I have to tell you something!" he rolled his eyes and walked over to her bedside.**_

"_**Yes?" She motioned for him to come closer and closer and closer until his ear was directly next to her mouth. He could even feel her heavy breathing on his cheek. She gave a suspicious glace at the nurses and cupped her hands over her mouth so they couldn't read her lips. **_

"…_**..I Looooove You!" he couldn't help his jaw from dropping. She pulled away and gave him the O.K. sign with her hand and a quick wink. The nurses quickly wheeled her a way leaving Neji all alone to try and figure out what had happened.**_

After her surgery TenTen didn't remember a single thing about what went on before. She had no clue what she said to Neji or Lee, but none the less Neji did everything in his power to avoid talking with her at all costs. Now he was trapped.

"Nothing." he repeated.

"Oh Yeah nothing?" She asked skeptically and he shook his head. "Nothing at all? Even though you know I will get my way eventually, nothing is bothering you?" He shook his head again more confident now. She took a deep sigh, she knew he wouldn't give up that easily but she wasn't planning on letting this go, she will get to the bottom of this. And on that, TenTen turned on her heels and marched away without saying another word to him.

Neji exhaled he was safe for a little while, but TenTen was true about one thing, she always got her way, always.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Hinata was laying in the middle of a large field with eyes closed, feeling the sun warm her face. There was a slight cool breeze which carried the sweet smell of lilacs through the air. She loved it here she was was living in what seemed to be heaven. But no matter how perfect it was she knew there was just one thing missing. She pictures his wild hair and crooked grin. She pictures his tan skin and thought about all the training he must have gone through. She pictures his eyes, so blue that you thought you were staring into the ocean itself. His whiskered cheeks, the way how the curled up when he smiled. His determined attitude and thick headedness. His nindo and how he stuck by it no matter what people thought or how many wounds he had received. His-

"Thinking of Naruto?"

"Ah!" She bolted upright and scouted far away from the sound source. She heard the familiar howl of her mother's laughter and sighed as she tried to control her racing heart. Her mother sat down next to her wiping the new formed tears from her eyes. Hinata tried to give her best glare but it had no effect on her mother's amused expression. "That wasn't funny…" Hiromi just put an arm around her daughter's shoulders, still chuckling.

"I'm sorry honey; I didn't mean to scare you like that." Hinata smiled.

"I know you didn't." She stopped as she realized something. "How did you know I was thinking about Naruto-kun?" Hiromi looked at her and gave her a look of love.

"Do you realize you get a smile when you talk about him?" Hinata looked at her dumbstruck. Hiromi laughed again. "It's a faint smile just on the corners of your lips. Not to mention you blush a little." This only caused her cheeks to become hot. She laughed again. "Ok you blush a lot." Hinata's blush intensified but she smiled and gave a playful sigh.

"Yes I know I really don't like it." Hiromi's humorous face become serious and she looked fiercely into her daughter's eyes.

"Never say that!" This actually scared Hinata a little. "Why don't you like it? It brings color to your face, as well complementing the violet tint in your eyes perfectly. It is part of you and don't you dare say anything bad about yourself ever again, and yes that is an order." Hinata was stunned. Yes her mother had scolded her when she was younger but she didn't remember this side of her. Hiromi's face softened. "I'm sorry Hinata but you look down on yourself to much, but changing from this touchy subject, I need to tell you something." Hinata gave a side glance to her mother. "It's time for you to wake up Hinata, which means I need to be going." Hinata looked at her with tear filled eyes.

"N-No we just stared to get to know each other and we need more time! Why can't I stay asleep for a little while longer?"

"Because Hinata," Hiromi grabbed her daughter's hands, "If you stay you will never want to go back."

"But then I can have my mother again…" she said through sobs.

"Hinata you need to stay strong, you have your own life out there. You have a younger sister who needs a strong female role model. She needs you to be there for her. Go back, go back to Hanabi and your father, go back to your friends and your house, to your family and your life, go back to Naruto and all the people whom you love. Go back!" Hinata looked at her mother with sad eyes and knew she had to face the truth, her mother was right. She needed to go back. And so Hinata drew her mother in for a tight bear hug.

"Mother…Thank you…I will never forget what you have done for me."

"Hinata I'm the one who should be thanking you…" Hiromi tightened her hug and gave a long pause before finally saying, "I love Hinata." Hinata gave a finally sniffle of sadness and said in a crack voice and said,

"I love you too Mother." and just at that moment her mother, the forest disappeared in a flash of blinding white light. It was strange just as the light appeared Hinata could have sworn that she heard a male voice far, far, far off in the distance yelling.

"She waking up!"

**Yeah a little short sorry.**

**End!**

**Thanks for Reading! **


	10. Chapter 10

**NaruHina Petals:**

**Chapter 10**

Hinata'e eyes flutter open only for them to be forced shut again by a blinding light. She opened them very slightly and squinted into the light. As her eye adjusted she realized it was a brightly shinning, circular lamp. It seemed like forever until her eyes adjusted but finally she was able to make out to two large shadows standing over her. It was only then did she hear the voices. "Looks like she's coming to." This voice was female but had a rich deep ring to it.

"Hmm…Give her the gas, can't have screaming when we break it." this one was male and was very tired and scratchy. The shorter of the two figures left her sight for only a second before reappearing with something in her hand. She gently placed a clear mask over Hinata's nose and mouth. The only protest she could bear was a roll of the head and a sheepish groan. But the woman pushed the mask firmly on her face forcing Hinata to breath in the gas coming from it. She felt an odd tingle in the back of her skull and her eyes drooped close.

**XXXXXXXX**

Hinata woke up with the feeling of being under water. Nothing seemed real, the only thing that kept her attached to reality was the hum from the lights over her head. She lazily dropped her head to one side to view her surroundings. She was in a small, stuffy, hospital room. The walls were a boring white and completely scrubbed clean. The only furniture in the room was a comfortable looking chair shoved into the corner. A small T.V. was perched on top of a compressed cabinet. Her eyes scanned the room and noticed an additional bed that was made to perfection. The room was plain and it gave a horrible feeling of blankness. She looked down at her self and she finally realized she was stripped down to her undergarments. She felt very vulnerable, her hate for this room started to grow. Just as she turn her head to look at the ceiling, the door opened her head whipped to look at the newcomer. In the doorway stood a short, plump woman in a nurse's uniform. Her cheeks were round and pink, her hair was curled, and her smile was kind and sincere. She looked at the drowsy Hinata and gave a small gasp. "My, my dearie! Looks like you are finally up!" Hinata recognized the voice, but from where? Hinata tried to set up to greet the woman but was stopped suddenly by a horrible pain electrifying down her spine. She fell back onto the sheet with a muffled thud. The nurse shuffled to her side and tucked her in so tightly, Hinata could barely move. "Don't push yourself dearie! We don't want anything to happen to you and have you end up right back in surgery, do we?" That's where Hinata had heard the voice! The nurse was the female standing over her while she was being operated on. While the woman was treating her like her own child, Hinata took a better look at the her. Her hair was a mousey brown and smelled like cinnamon. She was very short, Hinata was rather short herself but the woman barely reached her shoulders. The nurse was plump, not truly fat but…healthy looking. Hinata tried to speak but it just came out as a scratchy, squeak.

"Where-?" the woman placed a hand over Hinata's mouth.

"Now dearie you shouldn't be talking or stressing yourself at all, you hear?" Hinata moved her head very slightly to show she understood. "Good now I will tell you all I know and I won't have a peep out of you got it dearie?" she nodded again. Hinata thought this woman was strict, it was obvious she didn't play games with her patients and yet…there was something about her Hinata couldn't help liking. "Alright then here's your little story…"

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto was sprawled on the bottom of the cart looking like he were dead. His breathing was so heavy it was more like painting. "Does half the country know about this prize?" he coughed. Katashi who was starting to fall asleep while driving the cart sighed.

"Appears that way…" Naruto propped himself on one arm and looked at the tired boy.

"Hey Katashi? Do you want someone else to drive the cart for awhile?" Katashi waved him off with a simple scoff and yawn and kept moving the oxen forward. Naruto gave him a grunt of irritation and fell back. "Should we at least stop and make camp? It's getting late." Katashi shook his head fiercely.

"No! We are already a day behind schedule, all because we need to drop off the timid one at the hospital. You would think leaf shinobi would know how to handle themselves in a fight…" At this point Naruto sprang all the way up, teeth gritted.

"Hey you jerk! Hinata-chan risked her life to save your sorry butt, you owe her respect!" Sakura pointed a judgmental finger straight at Katashi's chest.

"Naruto's right, show some gratitude for once!" Katashi's glare darted back and forth between them. Then, deciding he was outranked, scoffed and turned his attention back to the road. Naruto wore a look of triumph as they slowly made their way through the Land of Lighting.

**XXXXXXXXXX**

"So first of all my name is Atsuko, "Kind child" and lets see with you dearie…" Hinata blinked, not many people she knew told their name along with it's meaning when introducing themselves, it was a little odd but very formal, Hinata liked it a lot. The women looked at a chart that was hanging from Hinata's bed. "Yes, yes hmmm….Ah! Hinata! "Sunflower" a beautiful name indeed."

"Tha-" Hinata was quickly silenced by a finger placed firmly over her lips.

"Ah-ah-ah! Absolutely no talking for today, just forget your manners for right now." She opened her mouth to apologize, but after getting a look of warning from Atsuko, shut it tight. Atsuko gave a nod of satisfaction and sat down in the chair in the corner. Letting out a tired grunt in the process. She sat there looking around the room in a tired daze until her gaze finally fell on Hinata. "You know dearie, you were in pretty bad shape when you came here. You were dying in that poor boys arms." Hinata cocked her head, showing she didn't understand. Atsuko gestured to her own hair. "The boy with the long brown hair, eyes like yours."

"_**Neji-san…" **_Hinata thought. The nurse nodded to herself.

"Yes he was very worried, that odd group was too. They must know you, lets see if this old brain can remember…um… Oh! Yes I remember now, there was a girl with a very odd hair color, red or…maybe pink."

"_**Sakura-chan…**_**"**

"Uh…There were two of them I think…they both had blond hair…a boy and a girl! The boy was just a little messier looking, he also had a very large mouth." she said proudly.

"_**Ino-chan… Naruto-kun…" **_

"Oh! There was another girl, I don't recall what she looked like…"she said a little disappointed.

"_**Must be TenTen-chan…They all came for me…I really was just in the way…" **_Hinata looked up at the ceiling. _**"What they all must be thinking of me…" **_Atsuko let out a booming laugh that made poor Hinata jump then recoil from the pain. Atsuko looked at Hinata with the radiance of pure joy.

"You have some great friends there!" Hinata looked up at the older woman with widened eyes. "I swear to you, every single one of them would have gone in and given you their own heart if you needed it. They wouldn't leave the building until we told them you were stable and sleeping, and even then we had to nearly push them out the doors. They all love and care about you. You are a very lucky girl Hinata, remember that." Hinata just starred at her, unblinking until she broke into a small smile and blush. She looked back up to the ceiling and then out the window. _**"Yea….I truly am…"**_

**Yeah I'm really sorry it is a little short, but I'm having a bit of trouble thinking of new stuff so I decided to just post what I got done.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chapter 11**

Hinata decided to make a vow to never end up in a hospital as long as she lived. She was in Hell! She was bored, lonely, claustrophobic, and just wanted to go home. The bandages down her arms and back were itchy and thanks to her broken leg she couldn't even lay down comfortably. She supposed it wouldn't be as bad if she was in fact, back in the leaf. She knew the nurses there, and make no mistake Hinata adored Atsuko but she just wasn't the same as her true friends. Almost on cue the short woman came in with a booming, "Morin' dearie! How was the medicine? Did it help you sleep any better?" Hinata gave a pitiful nod. "Good, good." Atsuko rapidly scribbled something on Hinata's clipboard. "Now did this one make you nauseous at all?" Hinata paused for a minute, in thought. When she finally spoke it came a out a quite croak.

"Not as much as the last one, but it did a little." Atsuko gave a small "Hmm" as she scribbled away. Hinata had been stuck in her room for three full days, with nothing to do except answer medical related questions about herself, and that was her highlight for the rest of the day. Atsuko told Hinata she wasn't to speak except when answering questions, and even then she would glare if Hinata said more then one sentence. Atsuko finally looked up.

"Alright then dearie… Time for your norco!" Hinata wriggled her nose in disgust. Atsuko gave a hardy laugh. "Nasty stuff isn't it?" Hinata nodded again. "Alright what do you want it in today? We have the pudding, yogurt, jello, maybe some jam, a-" Hinata just shook her head slightly.

"Just a shot." she said meekly. Atsuko looked surprised.

"All at once? No food to cover it?" Hinata shook her head again. Atsuko broke into laughter again.

"Didn't like it in the pudding yesterday? To much for you?" Hinata nodded. "Brave girl." Hinata smiled lightly at the complement. "Alrighty then, be back in a minute." Hinata gave a small exhale of breath.

'**I hate my norco…At least I will just get it over with…I wonder how is Neji-san and the others doing…they must be at the island by now…I wonder…'**Hinata's head turn to admire the vase that was perched on her bedside table. '**Naruto-kun… Stay safe…' **Hinata hadn't even realized the flowers until Atsuko had pointed them out.

_**It was Hinata's second day in the Hospital. She was sitting alone with her thoughts until Atsuko's round face appeared from around the corner. "You need anything dearie?" Hinata shook her head. "You sure hun? You haven't eating since breakfast, you sure you don't at least want some juice?" Hinata shook her head again, the help had just came in that morning and mopped Hinata's room. Thanks to the smell of the cleaner, Hinata had lost her appetite. "Well here dearie at least let me put those in fresh water. Hinata looked at Atsuko like she was insane. "What? Didn't you notice these?" She walked around Hinata's bed to the small table that was attached to the wall and just within an arms length away. Hinata looked over and nearly gasped, she truly hadn't noticed it before. On the side table was a small, thin, glass vase. It was just a simple thing with a curved spout. Protruding from it was three hand picked Liliums! Their petals, a deep shade of orange, which slowly got lighter until the center of the flower was a beautiful shade of gold. Accompany the Liliums was a single branch which held five fully bloomed Purple Nightshades. Hinata looked at it with widened eyes and a blush on her face. "Yes the blond boy brought these for you, he certainly doesn't have very good taste with colors. I tried to tell him that those colors really clash together…But he insisted. Sorry if you don't like it." Hinata had to blink away the tears that were now in the corners of her eyes. She quickly shook her head and smiled.**_

"_**No, no… it's perfect…" **_

And since then, if Hinata ever was bored or lonely she would just look at the flowers and think of Naruto. After a few minutes of waiting Hinata heard someone enter. She turned her head to see Atsuko standing with her arms behind her back.

"You ready dearie?" Hinata gave a small grimace. Atsuko's face broke into a devilish grin as she approached Hinata reveling a tube filled with the sickening, white paste. "Well then dearie, open up."

**XXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto tugged at the collar of his kimono in frustration and gave Sakura a side glare. "Why do I have to wear this thing?" he said a low grumble. Sakura just glared right back.

"Shh Naruto! I'm pretty uncomfortable too but we need to show respect." Naruto, Sakura, and the rest of the team were lined up in a straight row, kneeling. The women wore beautiful furisodes, of all different colors and designs. While the men wore formal kimonos and haoris, most of which had a deep, rich color… except for Katashi, who was blushing a bright red in his bleach white outfit. As soon as the team had alerted the village officials that they had brought the prize, they were all presented with very expensive looking clothes. Everyone was measured and fitted into very mature garments, except of course, for Katashi. Being rather small, he was force to wear the only outfit that would fit him. Unfortunately it was meant for a young teen, almost a child. Katashi really stood out from the crowd and he obviously didn't like it one bit. After the all had put on their outfits they all met in a large tea room and as soon as Naruto's eyes fell onto Katashi he burst into laughter. He looked like a puffy cloud! Naruto couldn't control himself, he hit the ground in an hooting fit. Katashi just crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as his face turned such a deep color of red it would have put all of Hinata's blushes to shame. Tears rolled down Naruto's tan cheeks as he tried to compose himself.

"Haha! Ok, ok I'm cool…..Bwahahahahahaha!" This went on for about ten minutes until the girls finally arrived. They took a look at Naruto, who was still rolling on the floor trying to stop his laughter, to Katashi who was just blushing even redder and giving Naruto a look of pure murder, then back to Naruto. They took a long pause looked right back at Katashi who just looked up at them with a glare then without warning they erupted into laughter. Katashi threw his arms up in frustration.

"I don't need this! This was the only one that would fit!" Neji just shook his head trying to keep the sound of his own smile out of his voice.

"Ok everyone needs to get a hold of themselves, the Raikage is going to be here soon." Everyone forced themselves to have a straight face…except Naruto. He was still howling with laughter and clutching his side. Sakura quickly grabbed him by the back of his collar and forced him to he's feet.

"Naruto try and get a grip." Naruto took a quivering breath and shut his mouth tight.

"Ok…He-he…Ok I'm good…" He put on a straight face. "Ok I'm ready." Sakura nodded and they all sat kneeling in their places. After about five or so minutes of waiting, the sliding door to the room flew opened and there, taking up the entire doorway, stood one of the biggest men Naruto had ever seen. His skin was dark and hair pure white. He wore black pants and a white robe which was open to revel his huge muscles. On each of his wrist was a huge gold weight which he waved around as if they were nothing more than rubber bands. It was if Naruto could feel the power radiating of him. He came into the room, voice booming.

"Alright! Lets get this over with!"

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Hyuga Hinata finished her entire cup of tea in one gulp. She gave a gasp and shuddered, the taste of her norco was still resting on her tongue. Atsuko chuckled as she poured Hinata a new glass and watched as that one was soon drained as well. "That's enough dearie, we can't have that caffeine get you even more fidgety then you already are." Hinata sighed and nodded. She gently laid herself back and rested on the soft pillows. Atsuko quickly tidied up Hinata's room and was about to leave. She just had one foot out the door before Hinata stopped her.

"Atsuko?" She turned and face the girl with worried eyes.

"What the matter dearie? Need anything? Something hurt?" Hinata shook her head

"Oh no I'm fine I was just wondering…Could you…stay and talk to me a little while?…" Atsuko looked at her and gave a small smirk.

"Why little Hinata are you lonely?" Hinata blushed and nodded sheepishly.

"I-I just miss having someone to talk to…" She embarrassedly looked away from Atsuko's gaze. Atsuko chuckled, pushed her nurses cart of to one side, and sat down in the chair with a muffled thud.

"Alrighty then dearie, what do you wish to talk about?" Hinata pondered this for a second. That when it hit her.

"Oh!" Hinata had been dying to ask this question. "Well yesterday I noticed I didn't have any pain in or anywhere near my lung. Can you tell me exactly what you and the doctors did in my surgery? How did you fix it so rapidly? And how is it now? I haven't even so much as coughed since I woke up, so I was curious." Atsuko starred at her with a blank expression. She shook her head to display her confusion.

"Hang on dearie, I need you to go back and slow it down for me, I don't think these aging ears heard you properly." Atsuko placed her hand behind her ear and strained her neck. "Please repeat yourself hun." Hinata blinked.

"Um, well I asked how is my lung…" Atsuko just gazed at her with questioning look.

"Your lung? Why it's fine dearie why do you ask?" This time it was Hinata's turn to gawk.

"Wha-…what do you mean? What about the puncher?" Atsuko was taken aback.

"Puncher? Let me see hun." She quickly stood up and grabbed Hinata's chart. She traced her finger down the page. "Oh, well if you are talking about that scar on your right side, then it isn't anything to worry about dearie." Hinata's jaw dropped.

"Sc-scar?" Atsuko looked at her, down at the chart to check herself then back at Hinata.

"Yes dearie, your scar… the round one." said Atsuko, trying to spark Hinata's memory. "It says right her that you came in with that scar." Hinata was dumbstruck, words just seemed to escape her. How could that horrible wound be nothing but a scar now? She had gotten it only, three days ago, she should be in a far graver state. It was…It was…

"Impossible…" Hinata quickly looked down at her bandaged hands and tried to sort through her memories. '**Could I be mistaken? No, no, my memory might be hazy but I most certainly remember the spear…' **As Hinata gazed at her hands in confusion something hit her that sent a chill down her spin.** 'W-Why…why do I need bandages on my hands?' **Hinata slowly lifted her head to look into Atsuko's worried eyes. "A-Atsuko…What exact injuries does my chart say I came in with?…" She frowned but peered at the chart.

"Well let's see…It says here that you suffered with a horrible amount of blood loss." Hinata nodded. "You were completely drain of energy, some major internal bleeding…Um…Oh You had a broken leg that had healed wrong so we were force to break it again." Atsuko made a small motion to her leg. Hinata just nodded, everything was sounding fine. "Let's see you had that scar, the burns, some dried blood near your-"

"W-wait, wait, wait…Burns?" Atsuko fixed her eyes on Hinata.

"Why yes dearie, those terrible burns you have." Hinata shook her head slightly.

"I…What burns?" She demanded "I never got burnt!…Well…I don't remember anyway."

"Well then dearie…" She kept her voice was soft, and calming as she approached Hinata's bedside. "How do you explain this." Atsuko's skilled fingers gently loosened the tape which held the wrappings in place. She quickly unfurled them so that Hinata's entire hand was exposed. Hinata's eyes grew wide as her heart started to pound. Her entire arm began to shake uncontrollably. Sure enough, there it was. The skin on Hinata's hand was a deep shade of red and was hot to the touch. Her white fingernails stood out like a soar thumb, especially compared to her swollen muscles. The top layer of skin was peeling and the was completely covered in white blisters and bubbles. Hinata had never seen a sight this horrifying. Her normally soft and pale skin was now so gut wrenching that it was hard for Hinata to keep her breakfast down. Atsuko let out a little "hmm" as she nodded. "Yes, it is like this all over you body…" Hinata's head whipped around.

"What?" Her voice squeak from anxiety. Atsuko nodded to herself.

"Yes…We've never seen anything quite like what you've got. But I know you will be- Hey!" Before Atsuko could react, Hinata started tearing at her bandages. She exposed the skin all the way up to her shoulder before Atsuko stopped her. "Whoa now dearie! Don't be doing that!"

"H-how? How did I not feel it? I mean my body and muscles were soar but I didn't feel anything!" Atsuko looked at Hinata as she sloppily redid the cloth back down Hinata's arm.

"Well dearie I believe that would be a mix of the shock and the ointment. You are still in a slight state of shock, plus not to mention the numbing cream that we put on the burn. Really works wonders, doesn't it?" After she finished she quickly gathered her stuff and placed it on the cart and rolled it all out the door. She turn back around and pointed a slim finger at Hinata's chest. "Now dearie I'm going to go get the doctor so her can fix you back up. I don't want you messing with your bandages and more, you hear?" Atsuko refused to leave the room until Hinata swore she wouldn't touch the wrappings. As soon as the door was closed, Hinata fell back onto the soft sheets with a thud. She felt the salty sting in her eyes as the warm tears formed. She then felt weird tickle as the water slid down past her ears, into her hair. Then shuddered as they zigzagged their way through her hair and down to her pillow.

"How did this happen…"

**The End**

**Thanks for reading!**

***P.s. For those who don't know what norco is, it is a very powerful pain killer that comes in a white, gooey, paste and taste AWFUL!* **


	12. Chapter 12

**NaruHina: Petals**

**Chapter 12**

Hinata was sobbing uncontrollably into her pillow. Her breathes came out in short heaves and were then exhaled rapidly. All she could hear was her own crying, all she could feel is the burn resting on her back, she thought of nothing except her now uglied exterior. She heard Atsuko's weary voice trying to consol her. "Now dearie you need to calm down." Hinata just gave a small jerking motion and flipped herself so that she was on her stomach with her arms under her pillow.

"Everything is ruined!" There was a long pause from Atsuko as Hinata's wails echoed off the walls. Without warning Hinata felt rather firm hands grab her hips and twist her back to face Atsuko. Her hair stuck to her tear covered face as her eyes open in surprise. She was so overcome with shock all she could do was gape as Atsuko pointed a finger at Hinata.

"That does it!" she scolded. "I am tired of the spoiled child act. I have tried to be nice and talk to you with reason but obviously you aren't going to respond to that. You want to act like a baby fine! I will treat you like one!" Atsuko flipped Hinata back onto her side. She then raised her hand and brought it down, spanking Hinata hard, right on the butt. She then flipped Hinata back and got nose to nose. "I deal with young children all day long and I do not tolerate this behavior with them, let alone a sixteen year old! Stop crying and feeling sorry for your self! It's getting old. You keep moaning 'It's over, my life is over' well look at yourself! You're breathing aren't you? You are kicking and screaming, sure seems to be alive to me. I actually thought of you better then this but you obviously proved me wrong." During this whole time Hinata had just been staring, jaw dropped, at Atsuko. No one had spanked her in ten years! It snapped her right back to normal. She stopped and thought about the way she had just been acting. She was, in fact, acting like a spoiled baby. She took a quivering breath and calmed herself. She then dove into Atsuko's arms and cried silent tears of embarrassment into her shoulder.

"You're right…You are absolutely right. I've have been acting so disgracefully, I will never forgive myself! I brought shame upon myself and disappointed you. I am so sorry! Please, can you forgive me?" The was a pause as Hinata's words sank into Atsuko's mind. A booming laugh escaped her lips causing Hinata to jump slightly in surprise. Atsuko enveloped her in a bear hug of her own and kept her there for a good while.

"That's my girl!" She said still not releasing Hinata, "that is the Hinata I know." Atsuko pulled away and looked into Hinata's puffy red eyes. "I'm not going to lie to you and tell you everything is going to be fine. That your burns will disappear like that." She quickly snapped her fingers to emphases it. "I'm not going to tell you that you can just ignore it and your life will go right back to normal. This is going to very hard on you but you need to keep a clear head and stand strong. You can't worry what people think how you look. I understand that you are a teenage girl. You dream about looking perfect, being perfect, getting a boyfriend, being popular, but you just can't! Take it from me, if you worry about perfection all the time you will miss out on what _**is **_truly perfect in you life. Just take one day at a time and enjoy everyday you get. You only have one life Hinata, don't let this ruin it." Before she knew it Hinata was crying again. But these tears weren't for herself. They were for the gratitude she had towards Atsuko and for the first time. Hinata realized how much Atsuko reminded Hinata of her mother. It was Hinata's turn to consume Atsuko in a hug of her own.

"Thank you Atsuko… for everything you done for me. How can I ever repay you?" Atsuko patted her on the back with a slight chuckle.

"By never making me yell at you ever again." It was Hinata who chuckled next.

"Deal" They stayed in the embrace for what seemed like years till Atsuko glanced at the clock.

"Oh we need to get moving." She quickly pull away from Hinata and shuffled to the cabinet. She opened it and quickly gather up all Hinata's traveling clothes and put them in her bag. She left out a pair of black a grey short sleeved shirt. She then unfolded them and put them on the edge of the bed. She then left the room for no less then five minutes and came back with a pair of brown crutches. Atsuko perched them on the side of the bed and grabbed Hinata's hands to help her up. A confused Hinata did as she was told.

"Wait what's going on?" Atsuko just gave her a bold grin.

"Wipe those tears away from that pretty face. We got a message from your cousin. You're going home today."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto walked around the small town alone with is hands stiffed deep in his pockets. He had finally got out of his uncomfortable outfit and back into his normal clothes. He had to admit, he like this town. It was small but the people treated him great, it had its own mountain hot spring, and there were _**Three**_ ramen shops! "Ahh! Who am I kidding?" He said with joy to himself, "Ichiraku is the only ramen for me!" His eyes sparked and mouthed drooled at the thought of a hot steamy bowl of the Miso Ramen with an egg. "_Yummy!" _At this his stomach rumbled greatly. He laughed a bit to himself. "Guess I'm a more hungry than what I thought." He quickly stopped a man who was wearing a baggy grey jacket and kept his head to the ground. "Hey, you! Sir!" The man stopped and turn to him.

"Yeah what do you want?"

"Where's the closest ramen shop?" The man tilted his head.

"Ramen eh?…Hm… Oh well I don't know about closest but for the best ramen you will taste you just got to take this road to the small teahouse. Then you want to make a hard right, you should be face to face with a wall just to the left, in a corner is a small little place. There you will have the best meal you will ever have." Naruto scoffed.

"The best ramen is Ichiraku Ramen in the Hidden Leaf Village." The man put a hand to his chin.

"Ichiraku? Huh never been, but I guaranty the ramen at Minori's little shop is just as good if not better." and at that the man turned his head to the ground again and shuffled off. Naruto scoffed again but then stopped in thought.

"….So…Minori's…" Naruto followed the man's directions to the teahouse. "So make a hard right and…" Naruto made a sharp turn into a small ally and was facing a large stone wall which set about 8 feet away from him. "So where's the freaking ramen shop!" then, as if answering his prayers he saw it. It was nestled in between the wall and the very back of the teahouse. It was for sure small and seemed a little rundown but the smell it emitted was hypnotizing. Naruto squeezed past the small door and was the most saddest ramen shop he had ever been in! The only light coming in was from a small square hole in the ceiling but thanks to the great wall's shadow it wasn't letting in much. There was only four stools with scratched leather. The paint was peeling off the stained walls and dust covered the floor. Naruto walked up to the counter and noticed the long crack running through it. He sat down on an inside stool and it let out a sickening squeak. Naruto looked around taking it all in, he then turned and looked behind the counter. "Um…Hello?"

"I'm coming, you just got to some time." said a raspy voice. After what seemed like hours out shuffled a tiny, hunched over old woman. Her skin was paled and covered in wrinkles. She looked at him with foggy eyes and gave a smile that was missing a couple of teeth missing. "I don't believe I've seen you around here before. Now my memory isn't exactly what it use to be but I know you've never step foot it my humble shop. It's a pleasure to meet you…" Naruto smiled back.

"I'm Naruto! You're Minori right?" The woman nodded slowly.

"Yes that's me, can I get you something?" Naruto nodded and licked his lips.

"Yes please! Is your Miso Ramen good?" she gave a tried nod.

"Yes it is, but my house specialty is the Wonton Ramen. People call it the best in town." Naruto gave a small "hmm".

"I haven't had Wonton Ramen before…I guess I just always stuck with the Miso…" Minori nodded again.

"Miso Ramen is good…but Wonton is my favorite." Naruto gave a shrug.

"Alright I'll take your word for it. One Wonton Ramen please!" The woman smiled and moved slowly to the stove.

"It will be right up. Can I get you a drink while you wait?" Naruto thought,

"Yeah, can I just have a glass of water." she moved to the back and came back with some ice water and set it in front of him.

"Here you go." Naruto drank it down without a breath and waited patiently as the woman made him is ramen. The delicious smell made his nose tickle and lips moisten. After what seemed like forever she placed a steaming bowl of ramen down on the counter. "Careful son, it's hot…" He quickly grabbed some chopsticks and broke them apart. He grabbed a big bunch of noodles blew on them and slurped them up in one gulp. He them gave a small shudder and dropped his chopsticks. Minori looked at him. "What's the matter?" Naruto just stared at her.

"The matter? The matter is this is the best ramen I've ever tasted!" He quickly picked up his chopsticks and slurped up the rest of the bowl. Minori smiled,

"Well if you like it that much you can have another bowl, on the house." Naruto stared at her with a look of pure joy.

"Really? Thank You!" She smiled and went to make him another bowl.

"So what brings you here? Not many people come to this town just eat my ramen." Naruto chuckled and adjusted his forehead protector.

"He-he-he you see this? I'm a Hidden Leaf ninja! I was sent to town to complete a mission, pretty cool huh?" The woman's eyes glanced at the headband then Naruto's face than back at the band.

"A Leaf ninja? My my must be some job." Naruto gave a conceited scoff.

"Yeah it's pretty dangerous but I'm strong enough, I can handle anything that comes at me." The woman smiled tiredly.

"I'm glad to hear you're so impressive, where do you get it?" Naruto stopped and stared at her with a look of confusion.

"Wha -….Get what?" During all of this she didn't look up from her work.

"Your strength, where do you find it?" Naruto starred at his empty glass for what seemed like forever, pundering the question.

"I guess I get it from a promise…and a friend. I made a promise a few years ago and I will keep it! No matter what I will stay true to my word!" Minori turned to him this time and tried grey eyes met, anxious blue ones. She stared into them deeply not saying anything, just starring. She gave a "Hmm" and a nod and turned to back to her work.

"You might not know this or even understand but you have more places." Naruto just looked back at her. "There are a great amount of people in this world to thank… but in order to gain that strength you must both find out who these people are and understand why they are the ones. It might sound like I'm just some crazy old woman but I know what I'm talking about. Trust me, a lot of ninja come through this town." She then turned away again to clean a bowl. Naruto stared at her awe stuck. His face then broke into a grin he set his empty bowl and money down on the counter and rushed out yelling thanks as he left. Walking the streets he ponderede what the woman had told him.

"Hmmm….who are they?…."

**End**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Yeah not best… I was kinda lazy, I didn't reread it for any grammar or really bad parts so just message me about any spot you don't like or don't understand and I will fix it.**


	13. VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT!

**THIS IS VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT **

**I am deciding how to end my story and I think i have some great ideas unfrotunatly I really bad at decideding so i need help. PLEASE I NEED TO TO MESSAGE ME YOUR ANSWERS. IF I DON'T GET ANY THAN I WON'T CONTIUNUE MY STORY SO PLEASE HELP! There are three categories, so when you message just comment the number of the catogory # and you answer.**

**Example, 1NaruSaku 2Mother 3Death**

**Feel free to vote for more than one in a catogory **

1.

NaruSaku

LeeSaku

SasuSaku

KibaHina

None of these above ( I didn't put NaruHina cuz I know ppl would vote for that so just pretend Hinata dosn't exsist)

2.

Mother

Father

Sister/Brother

None

3.

Death

Sad

Happy

What?

None

**Thanks for the help!**

**And if i only get one answer, I guess I'm going with their choice :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**NaruHina: Petals**

**YEP! IT'S BACK! It might be a little sloppy I kind of wrote fast. Ps Thanks for the votes!**

Naruto reclined into the warm straw and starred up at the clear blue sky. The prize was safe and delivered, the mission was a success, Hinata would be back with them in a matter of minutes, and to top it off the weather was absolutely perfect. Everyone seemed to have an air of joy about them, including Katashi who didn't insult Naruto once the entire trip to the hospital. Naruto tilted his head to peer at Neji upside down. "You sent the message right?" Neji didn't even look at him as he answered with an annoyed

"Yes Naruto!" Naruto smiled at the Hyuga boy and returned to looking at the sky. He knew Neji's response wasn't unreasonable after all he had asked him the same question about 10 times now. It accidently slipped out a few times out in his excitement to see Hinata again but after he realized how mad it made Neji he just couldn't stop himself. He honestly didn't know why he was so ecstatic to see Hinata but he was. He simply decided it was just because he was bored without anyone to really talk to. Sakura, TenTen and Ino were all having a blast by themselves and Neji was well Neji leaving Hinata and himself to hang out with each other, not to mention they had just really hit it off that trip. He rolled over in the hay and looked at Neji with a devilish smile. Neji answered back with a death glare. "Don't Uzumaki." Naruto was in such a good mood he decided to poke the bear a little.

"Hey Neji…"

"I'm warning you! Don't do something you will regret…" Naruto gave him a look of childish innocence.

"What?" he said with a sweetly "I just wanted to ask you something…" Neji's body tensed and took a pose that, even sitting down, appeared menacing.

"Uzumaki!"

"Did you send the message?!" That did it, Naruto sent the Hyuga over the edge. Neji pounced. He tackled him pinning him to the wagons floor. He grabbed the still laughing blonde boy's collar and started shaking him.

"What did I just say Uzumaki?!" said Neji through gritted teeth. A high pitched whine came from the cart as it started to shake.

"Hey!" yell Katashi, "The fuck are you doing?!" Neji stopped and realizing what he had done quickly regained composer. Not many people could make him lose his temper like that but Naruto defiantly succeeded. Neji jumped off of the dead looking Naruto and reclaimed his spot in the corner of the wagon.

"Well he should have listened." said Neji simply, trying to ignore his own blush. The three girls, who had been talking amongst themselves, looked at Neji in shock then down at the still groaning Naruto. They glanced at each other and, feeling no pity for their spiky haired friend, returned to their conversation as if nothing had happened. Naruto, seeing no one would come to his aid, he found himself pouting

"I bet Hinata-chan would have helped me…" He mumbled but was simply ignored.

They odd group road along, Naruto staying as far away from Neji as possible and Neji appreciative for the silence, until they finally made their way to the hospital where they dropped off Hinata. Naruto jumped out of the cart in excitement and was about to bound into the building until he was stopped by a frowning Sakura grabbing the back of his jacket.

"Wait Naruto, let me go in alone." Naruto shrugged her off to face her with a look of disbelief.

"What?! Why?" Sakura simply looked at him sternly.

"Naruto you are to hyper, you might get Hinata excited or scared and she might end up right back in there." Sakura pointed to the hospital to add emphasis to her words. "Just let me go. Don't forget, I'm the medical ninja in this group." Naruto, at a loss for words, simply nodded and jumped back into the cart. She quickly got out and went inside the small hospital.

Sakura walked up to the front desk and with a smile on her face ask, "Is Hyuga Hinata fit to leave?" The woman behind the desk looked Sakura up and down and peered at her books.

"Ah Hyuga! Yes it seems so, who may I ask are you?" she asked in such a way that it was obviously a shot at Sakura. The slightly insulted girl hid her annoyance with a smile.

"I am her friend, Sakura Haruno, a medical ninja." The receptionist scanned Sakura again, this time not even trying to hide her actions.

"Really? Such a young girl? You can't be older than thirteen!" Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch in anger but kept the smile on her face. Grinding her teeth all the while.

"About to be seventeen actually…but enough about me how about Hinata?" The woman just gave Sakura another look then stood up, told her to just wait her, and walked down the narrow hallway. Sakura's eye twitched again but she let in out in a nice long sigh and sat down.

After about half an hour Sakura heard a two sets of footsteps come echoing down the hall Sakura shot up and peer down the hall to see the receptionist come walking down the hall while a woman with flaming red hair right on her heels. The both looked over at Sakura, the receptionist whispered something to the other and they both nodded. Sakura was at her limit and was done being nice. "Where the hell is Hinata?!" The two women gave each other a look that two high school girls would give while gossiping. The one with the red hair quickly spoke up in a high pitched voice.

"Calm down, this is a hospital, not a zoo. Hinata will be here shortly. If you please sit down and be patient." Sakura knew yelling back would be useless so she sat down again. She sat through ten more minutes of hell before her heard someone walking down the hall. Sakura shot up and to her delight saw a glowing Hinata came down the long hallway being pushed in a wheel chair.

"Hinata!" Hinata smile a dazzling smile that warmed Sakura's heart. So much so that she ignored the two women, shushing her.

"Sakura-chan! I am so glad to see you! How was the mission?" Sakura shrugged.

"A few bumps but nothing kunoichi can't handle." Hinata laughed the first true laugh she had since she had woke up.

"Glad to hear it!" The woman pushing Hinata smiled at Sakura and grabbed her hand in a firm shake.

"Hello Dearie! My name is Atsuko, "Kind Child", I was Hinata's bedside nurse. Tomiko says you are a medical ninja?" Sakura had to admit she was a little frightened of this woman but smiled back anyway.

"That's right! I'm Sakura Haruno."

"Cherry Blossom!" Atsuko said with a boom, "Good on ya girl! Well since you will take care of Hinata, here are some things you will need." Atsuko handed Sakura Hinata's clipboard who scanned it quickly and did a small double take. She looked at Hinata, then Atsuko, then the clipboard, and back to Hinata. Sakura handed the board back to the nurse and tenderly reached for Hinata's hand.

"May I?" Hinata nodded meekly and watched as Sakura slowly unraveled the wrapping and exposed Hinata's burn to the outside air. Sakura swallowed, a lump in her throat, nodded slightly and rebound Hinata's hand all this time avoiding the raven haired girl's gaze. "R-right so Atsuko, what else is there for her?" The stocky woman gave Sakura Hinata's paperwork, bills, prescriptions, and medicines to the pink haired girl before kneeling down next to the wheel chair.

"Now you just remember what I told you, ya hear?" Hinata nodded and whipped the tears that gathered in her eyes. Atsuko reminded her so much like her own mother, she wasn't sure she was ready to give that up quite yet. "Hey dearie no tears, you will just get me going." Atsuko brought Hinata in for a gentle hug. "You are going to be just fine." Hinata nodded into Astuko's shoulder and quickly whipped away a few more tears with her palm.

"Right!" Astuko laughed, kissed Hinata on the top of the head, gave a nod to Sakura a shuffled away to attend to her other patients. Hinata took a quivering breath, gave a nod to the receptionist and the red haired woman, and turned to Sakura, still avoiding her eyes. "I'm ready" Sakura got behind Hinata's chair and started pushing her towards the door. Inches away from being outside, Sakura was surprised to feel Hinata push the small brake on the right wheel. "Sa-Sakura-chan…"Sakura leaned in close to hear the whispering girl.

"Yes Hinata, what is it?" Hinata turned her head to look Sakura in the eyes for the very first time. The Pink Kunochi was surprised to see the great look of pleading in them.

"Please don't tell anyone about…_**it**_…" Sakura starred at her with a hint of pity.

"Sure Hinata…" and that was all that was said on the matter.

**XXXXXXX**

_Maybe I should have gone in with Sakura…_thought Neji in despair. He sent a glare directed to Naruto. _It sure beats this…_ Naruto was pacing back and forth grumbling about how long Sakura was taking.

"I mean come on! How long does it take to get one person?!" Neji just scooted deeper into the hay.

"Settle down Naruto, Sakura will be out any minute with Hinata-sama and then we can all head home." Naruto just crossed his legs and sat down in a huff.

"They sure are keeping us waiting…" Ino gave a loud annoyed sigh.

"Naruto is right, this is getting ridiculous… Should we go in after them?" TenTen didn't look up at her. She was far to engaged in cleaning her weapons to even think about getting up.

"No. Remember Hinata was in pretty bad shape, the best thing is to just wait her and let Sakura handle it." Ino gave pout

"I just wish they hurry up! This waiting around is killing me!" TenTen looked at Ino with a look of temptation. "What the hell are you looking at me like that for?!" This little yell made even Katashi look up. TenTen extended a rag and kunai.

"If you really wanted to you could help me." TenTen said cooingly. Ino just smirked at the idea.

"I don't think so." TenTen's eyebrow rose.

"It beats doing nothing!" Ino just stood starring at the brunette until she finally sat down and helped.

Waiting….and waiting…..and waiting…. For what seemed like for hours until Naruto sprang to his feet. "LOOK! There they are!" Sure enough a wheel chair bound Hinata came through the double doors, being pushed by a blank faced Sakura. Naruto sprinted to them almost running them over in the process. He droped to his knees and skidded till he and the in shock Hinata were practically nose to nose. She could even feel his breath on his face when he talked. "Hinata-chan! You're ok! Well, at least you seem ok! Are You? What did they say? The doctor I mean, when will you be out of that chair?" Naruto was talking a mile a minute and to be honest she wasn't paying one bit attention to his words, all she cared about how their faces were inches apart. She felt a mix of gratitude and disappointment as her cousin pulled the blonde boy back.

"Give her space." Neji released him and returned to her side. "Hinata-sama, are you well enough for travel?" Hinata gave him smile and a nod. Neji stood and opened his mouth to speak to Sakura but shut it tight. The look in her eyes…they were filled with so much…Neji couldn't put his finger on it but he didn't like it. He placed a hand on the girls shoulder and her head snapped around in fear and confusion. When her green eyes met Neji's, they just filled with tears. She blinked rapidly to prevent them from spilling and simply pushed Hinata to the cart. When Hinata's chair made contact with the edge of the wagon, her pale eyes scanned the group pleading for assistance. Naruto yelled

"I'LL HELP!" and bounded for her with Neji right on his heels.

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL UZUMAKI!"

**XXXXXXXX**

It was dark, cold, and the shaking cart wasn't making sleep come any easier. Sakura just tightened her grip on her blanket, refusing to give the sleeping Ino anymore than what she already had. She closed her eyes and laughed to herself. She actually didn't even know why they still fight the way they do but oddly…it works. Through being rivals for so long, a strong friendship actually blossomed from it. Weird. She looked at each of her slumbering comrades individually and soon her surroundings but found her eyes kept drifting back to Hinata, still asleep on Neji's shoulder. Ever since she got out of the Hospital he refused to let anyone touch her, especially Naruto…Right after Neji gingerly place his cousin in the wagon Naruto dove at her with a whirlwind of questions, mission stories, and random nonsense. She could tell Hinata was trying to be nice and answer all of his questions the best she could as well as listening to all of his stories but it just became to much for her. As soon as Neji sensed Hinata was even the slightest stressed he simply told Naruto to shut it or else, putting a quick end to Naruto's attention tornado. Hinata tried to convince Neji she was fine but he had made up his mind and the rest of the night was practically silent. But Neji wasn't the only one looking out for Hinata, Sakura had been watching her that entire day. She noticed every wince, every groan, every twitch, and there was absolutely no doubt in her mind Hinata was in a great deal of pain but…that actually didn't bother her as much as the question she felt in the back of her mind…She had seen burns like that before but where?...They were nothing like something somebody would get from a stove or a candle. No…these were very different…almost hell like. She thought long and hard about where she had come across that type before but to no prevail. She watched Hinata painfully twist and turn for another hour or so until she finally faded of to sleep herself… _Hinata…I swear…I __**will**__ heal you…_


End file.
